Turkey issued yet another Eastern Mediterranean Navtex, coinciding with the celebration of Cyprus Independence Day.
It calls on all maritime traffic to facilitate NATO’s ‘on-going operation ‘Sea Guardian’, aimed at facilitating shipping security and cracking down on illegal activities.
The Alliance has a permanent presence in the region, so the Navtex was not necessary, with reports indicating that Ankara is simply trying to ram home the claim that Turkey is the only one with jurisdiction to issue Navtex in the region.
Meanwhile, NATO announced a joint naval exercise today, set to start on Monday October 5 and conclude on Friday, October 9.
