All merchant ships involved in the operation coordinated with the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, leaving the Turks to watch idly.
Turkey yesterday sent twenty fighters to the Athens FIR, eight of which were armed. The fury of the Turkish pilots was so great that 7 dogfights took place as a result. It’s the most of the last thirty days or so as around the middle of July there had been 9 dogfights after a long time!
At the same time, it tried to “cap” the Search and Rescue operation carried out by Greece south of Rhodes, claiming that the area is under its jurisdiction. It even issued a relevant NOTAM while it did not fail to send two coast guard personnel near the area of the investigations. With the decisive intervention of Athens and the Under-Minister of National Defense and the AGEETHA Konstantinos Floros rushing to the Operations Center to coordinate the situation in case the case developed into a “hot” episode, eventually all the merchant ships participating in the operation were coordinated with the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, leaving the Turks to look on idly until they left on Wednesday night.
With Turkey’s 4th floating drilling rig, the now infamous Abdulhamid Khan, moored in the heart of the area Ankara has pledged until October 7, the steam that had begun to gather dangerously in the Eastern Mediterranean cauldron threatening to blow the lid, began now to liquefy, relieving the tension, however the Pentagon remains on alert as they estimate that sooner or later it will move on the route followed by Oruch Reis. A route that brought it very close to Kastelorizo and in the Greek continental shelf.
The headlines of newspapers such as Milliet’s which mention: Abdulhamit in the Blue Homeland are typical. Aksam makes indirect threats by emphasizing in its headline: We will not allow anyone to usurp our rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. The historical Hurrier is more modest by simply referring to its title: The messages of Abdulhamid.
Of course, Erdogan may not have sent his largest drilling rig to Kastellorizo or the Cypriot EEZ, but during the departure he did not fail to attack Greece without directly referring to it.
“When Abdulhamit Khan begins his work there will probably arise some who will attempt to cast spells behind the backs of others. And as long as we don’t pay attention to them, we don’t take them into account, the end of those who are becoming more and more spoiled will one day be to bang their heads against the wall and come to their senses,” said the Turkish president, among other things
The initiator and theoretician of the “Blue Homeland” Jihat Yayci directly pointed out Erdogan’s decision to “punch” the “Abdul Hamid Khan” inside the Turkish continental shelf.
“Our fears have come true! Driller Abdul Hamid Khan’s first duty station is the Yörükler-1 well, 55 kilometers offshore Gazi Pasha. That is, within the map of Seville, which traps us in the Gulf of Antalya… We don’t know what to say” was the post on the think tank chaired by Yaitzi
In Athens, they attribute the development with the driller to the diplomatic marathon of Athens which resulted in allies putting pressure on Ankara.
On Wednesday morning, Greece and Cyprus carried out a joint Search and Rescue exercise in the maritime area south of the port of Limassol and within the area of responsibility of Search and Rescue of the Republic of Cyprus. An exercise in the commitment of the regions was disputed by Turkey as it considers especially the western region, its own jurisdiction.
