Turkey Ignores International Warnings and Launches “the Largest Military Naval Exercise”

The Turkish army launched on Monday what it called the “largest military exercise” of the Turkish navy, which takes place in the three seas surrounding the country, this comes in the context of tensions over the issue of gas exploration off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus.

According to Anatolia government agency, the “Sea Wolf 2019”  military naval exercise, the largest of its kind in the history of Turkey, is carried out concurrently in three seas. The Turkish naval command  supervise the ongoing maneuvers for the first time in the Black Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, With the participation of 131 naval vessels, 57 military aircraft and 33 helicopters.

Commenting on the “Sea Wolf 2019”  exercises, the Turkish Defense Minister Khulosi Akar said the aim was to show the determination and ability of the navy to protect the country and the security of its people, and to maintain sovereignty, independence, rights and maritime interests.

The European Union and the United States expressed “concern” about Ankara’s intention to launch prospecting operations in the ” exclusive economic zone of Cyprus”. Nevertheless, Ankara ignored the warnings, saying that it was not bound to the maritime demarcation agreements signed between the internationally recognized government in Cyprus and other Mediterranean coastal states.

“We are trying to strengthen our relations with neighboring countries in accordance with international law, but Turkey is the exception, unfortunately,” said the spokesman for the Cypriot government, Bodrum, who will not analyze the decisions and actions taken by Turkey.

Bodrum, in a declaration quoted by Cyprus governmental agency,  that the Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis has said in a meeting with the Turkish  Cypriot leader Mustapha Akensi that Turkey’s actions in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus did not contribute to the resumption of negotiations and the solution of the Cyprus problem.

He added: “It is possible to look at these actions in the context of the local elections in Turkey, especially on determining the fate of the city of Istanbul.”

The Turkish authorities announced in early May their intention to carry out natural gas exploration until September in an area of the Mediterranean, of which the Cypriot media says it is the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus.

While receiving the credentials of the new Republic of Cyprus Ambassador to Italy., the Italian President Sergio Mattarella pointed out that the Turkish moves should be dealt by the European Union because Turkey is a problem to the European Union.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Christodoulides said yesterday that he would take the opportunity to brief the EU foreign ministers on Turkish provocations in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus during a meeting of the Council of Foreign Affairs in Brussels.

After the EU’s informal summit in Romania, the European Council President Donald Tusk said that the EU stands united with the Republic of Cyprus and expects Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of the EU member state “and that the European Council will continue to monitor developments closely.”

The Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union, exercises its authority only on two thirds of the south of the island, which the north is run by the government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and it is only unilaterally recognized and not internationally, at a time the discovery of gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean motivate the  surrounding countries to gas exploration.

The Republic of Cyprus has signed contracts to explore and exploit the gas fields with giant companies such as Italian)Eni(ا, French (Total) and American( ExxonMobil), but Ankara opposes any exploration and exploitation of energy resources excluding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.