Three weeks after the signing of the illegal Turkish-Libyan hydrocarbons deal, Turkish influence in Libya is also strengthened in the defense sector, with the two military agreements signed in Istanbul by Hulusi Akar and Libyan interim prime minister Abdulhamit Dmeiba to modernize its air force. Libya and for the sale of armed AKINCI drones. In this context, the Turkish air force will also undertake the training of Libyan pilots.
By GEORGIA GARANTZIOTI – SOURCE: POLITICAL – [Μετατροπή σε κείμενο:
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The second military agreement between Turkey and Libya provides, however, for the creation of two military bases, one air and one naval. These are the airbase of Al-Watiya, located 140 km southwest of Tripoli, and the naval base in Misrata. Wing Commander e.a. Constantinos Iatridis explains the risks our country faces from this development: “If these two bases are combined operationally with the naval base maintained by Turkey in Avlonas, then all these movements are included in a plan of Turkey, in a strategy to encircle our country and create a cordon with warships and fighter aircraft, so that Greece can split its forces in some fervent solution that Turkey probably aims to create in the future”.
At the same time, Turkey wants to create a military base in Skopje, in order to form a defensive arc that will start from Turkey, pass through Sopia, Albania and end in Libya, to surround Greece from all sides. The most likely scenario that Turkey would attempt, according to Wing Commander K. Iatridis, is “to put pressure on Greece from East and West by increasing the level of threats, in order to demilitarize the islands and facilitate its plans and claims in Aegean”.
Athens continues to internationalize the issue, keeps a close eye on Turkish movements and declares that, despite the concern over Ankara’s hostile behavior, Greece is ready for all eventualities. As the government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou stated: “What should be absolutely clear is that we have ensured that the country has been strengthened at all levels.”
Greek-Turkish affairs and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya were on the agenda of discussions held by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who arrived in Athens on Wednesday night.
Alongside the strengthening of alliances, the Armed Forces are ready to face any escalation scenario in the Aegean and Mediterranean and are constantly exercising in the air, on land and at sea. In this context, the multinational exercise “Aegean Seal” was completed in the wider maritime area of the southern Euboean Gulf. The exercise was conducted by the Underwater Disaster Management and had as its object naval special operations, pre-landing operations of very shallow water minesweeping, mine neutralization and improvised explosive devices.
The joint training involved Mine Action Teams with personnel from Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. To carry out the objects of the exercise, helicopters of the Naval Aviation Command and the 4th Army Aviation Helicopter Battalion were made available.
