The entire Greek fleet is mobilized in the Aegean

The Greek navy in full strength entered the Aegean Sea for exercises with the French after endless threats from Turkey about the possibility of invading the Greek islands.

Edition GreekCityTimes reports that the exercise called “Longhi”, which began today, is designed to ensure “high readiness of the Greek naval forces.” All major units of the Greek Navy are now in the Aegean.

Frigates, submarines, missile boats, gunboats, helicopters and fighters, including the latest Rafale fighters, are in full service and deployed, equipped with all combat weapon systems. The main focus of the exercises is on anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and surface warfare.

For the first time, Greek Rafales, 6 fighters that have recently entered military squadrons and passed the first stage of evaluation by the Tactical Aviation Headquarters, will take part in exercises in the Aegean Sea.

In the armed forces, in addition to the doctrine of “calmness and prudence”, “readiness and determination” also became the main one. The “decisiveness” was significantly influenced by the participation in the exercises of the French squadron and its flagship, the Mistral-class helicopter carrier.

It seems that the Greek leadership decided to show Turkey that he underestimated his neighbor and is trying to prove that Erdogan overestimated his strength. Now the main thing is that Erdogan does not decide to check it …

Earlier this month, Erdogan urged Greece to stop the “militarization” of the Greek islands neighboring Turkey and warned that Turkish military forces could come “at night”.

“We can come suddenly, in the middle of the night […]if you Greeks go too far, the price will be heavy,” Erdogan said in a statement that Athens saw as a major escalation.

According to the Greek Ministry of Defense, Turkey has increased the number of violations of Greek airspace, especially with the use of drones such as Βayraktar, which are also used in Ukraine. At least half of the violations of Greek airspace in 2022 were related to the use of drones.

Commenting on Erdogan’s statement, Angelos Sirygos, an MP from the ruling New Democracy party and professor of international politics, said the “we will come suddenly at night” statement is reminiscent of the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus (Operation Attila), which also began at night.

“No other leader has moved at such a pace of threats for so many weeks […]. Erdogan’s message was “be careful because we are ready,” Sirygos said.

Officially, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it would not stoop to the aggressive rhetoric of Ankara and made it clear that the allies in EU and NATO will be informed accordingly.

Turkish President accuses Greece of preparing Kurdish terrorists in the camp in Lavrio, a city in the southeastern part of Attica, while stating that weapons in Western Thrace and on the islands mean nothing to Ankara. “Terrorists are protected in almost every country in Europe, especially in the Greek camp in Lavrio,” the Turkish president said, noting that terrorists pose a threat to the peace and security of Western countries that protect terrorist groups. We expect all countries, especially neighbors, to take appropriate action against terrorist organizations,” he added.

Continuing the theme of Greece, he said: “We know well the intentions of those who drive it [Грецией]”while” the weapons that accumulate in Western Thrace and on the islands mean nothing to us. Our strength far exceeds theirs.”

At the same time, he threatened that “America’s support will not save you.”

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