Istanbul
Turkey on Saturday launched new military manoeuvres in the eastern Mediterranean, expected to last two weeks, in a sign that heightened tensions between Ankara and Athens were likely to continue.
A dispute over maritime borders and gas drilling rights has reignited the long-running rivalry between Greece and Turkey, with the two neighbours staging rival naval drills. In a message on NAVTEX, the international maritime navigational telex system, Turkey said it would carry out “shooting exercises” from Saturday until September 11 in a zone off the southern Turkish town of Anamur, north of the island of Cyprus.
Meanwhile, Brussels is set to discuss sanctions against Turkey at a meeting of EU leaders next month, as the country began firing exercises in contested waters of the eastern Mediterranean on Saturday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that all EU countries are obliged to back Athens in its longtime dispute with Ankara over claims to hydrocarbon resources in the area. — Agencies
