ATHENS: Greece and its EU allies held war games in the Mediterranean Wednesday while Turkey conducted drills with the US navy nearby, as the row between the two neighbors over gas and maritime borders ratcheted up another notch.
The convergence of a growing number of warships on an energy-rich but disputed patch of sea between Cyprus and Crete came as NATO and a host of European officials called for cooler heads to prevail.
Greece and Turkey are ancient rivals with a litany of disputes — despite both being members of the NATO military alliance.
They nearly went to war over some uninhabited islets in 1996, and earlier this month frigates from the two sides collided while Turkey was searching for energy in the eastern Mediterranean.
The threat of another conflict could imperil Europe’s access to a wealth of new energy resources and draw in nations such as Egypt and war-torn Libya.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was “personally regularly in contact with Ankara and Athens.”
After failed shuttle diplomacy aimed at getting the two sides talking again Tuesday, Berlin on Wednesday criticized the naval exercises as “not helpful.”
The emerging crisis is quickly rising to the top of the agenda not only regionally but also in Brussels and Washington.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after telephone talks with US President Donald Trump that Athens was “ready for a significant de-escalation — but on condition that Turkey immediately stops its provocative actions.”
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted Wednesday that Ankara would not accept preconditions such as suspending its gas exploration before resuming dialogue.
Turkey will “make no concessions on that which is ours,” Erdogan said.
Greece was able to secure the support of EU military powerhouse France in three days of war games starting Wednesday that also include Italy and Cyprus.
The Turkish defense ministry conducted its own drills with an Italian navy vessel on Tuesday.
And the same US destroyer that took part in the exercises with Turkey had staged air and sea maneuvers with the Greek navy south of Crete on Monday.
The seeming shifts in allegiance highlight Rome and Washington’s desire to avoid challenging Erdogan because of Turkey’s importance to conflicts in Libya and the Middle East.
But France has joined Greece in shadowing the Turkish vessels and is openly warning Erdogan against overplaying his hand.
The Mediterranean “should not be a playground for the ambitions of some — it’s a shared asset,” French Defense Minister Florence Parly said.
Simmering tensions began bubbling over when Turkey sent the Oruc Reis research vessel accompanied by warships into disputed waters on August 10.
Greece responded by dispatching its own navy ships to show its displeasure and keep an eye on Turkey’s work.
But Turkey says this latest conflict really started on August 6, when Greece struck an exclusive economic zone agreement with Egypt that conflicted with Ankara’s maritime claims.
That pact was agreed after Turkey delayed the Oruc Reis mission to give diplomacy another chance in July.
Erdogan re-ordered the disputed exploration immediately after the Egypt deal.
Greece is expected to once again push for penalties against Turkey at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Berlin on Thursday and Friday.
Turkey has been isolated at such meetings because it is a member of NATO but not the EU bloc.
Its accession talks to the EU have stalled as Erdogan pushes ahead with a more nationalist and diplomatically aggressive course that plays well to his conservative base at home.
But the EU has refrained from heavily sanctioning Turkey and has only targeted two energy executives for their role in drilling work near Cyprus.
In past disputes, Erdogan has repeatedly used the threat to open Turkey’s borders and allow millions of refugees — many of them from Syria — to enter the EU.
“If we say we will do something, we will do it, and we will pay the price,” he said Wednesday.
Greece, Turkey draw in allies in Mediterranean war games
https://arab.news/vakpq
Greece, Turkey draw in allies in Mediterranean war games
- Greece and Turkey are ancient rivals with a litany of disputes — despite both being members of the NATO military alliance
What we know about alleged strike on Iran school
- The New York Times has authenticated video uploaded by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News showing a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking a structure described as a clinic inside a Revolutionary Guards’ base next to the school
PARIS, France: A new investigation by the New York Times has shed more light on events surrounding a reported attack on a school in Iran at the start of the Middle East war.
Iran has accused Israel and the United States of conducting a strike on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, which it said killed more than 150 people.
US President Donald Trump has blamed Iran, while the Pentagon has said it is investigating the incident.
AFP has been unable to access the location to independently verify the circumstances or the toll from any such incident.
Iranian authorities have to give explicit approval to foreign media organizations wishing to report outside Tehran.
- Tomahawk -
The New York Times has authenticated video uploaded by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News showing a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking a structure described as a clinic inside a Revolutionary Guards’ base next to the school.
According to the Times, in this war, the only military using Tomahawks is the United States.
The footage showed dust and smoke rising from the direction of the school, indicating at least one earlier explosion.
“A body of evidence assembled by The Times — including satellite imagery, social media posts and other verified videos — indicates that the SHajjarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred at the same time as attacks on the naval base,” the paper said.
US Central Command has released footage of Tomahawk launches filmed on February 28, the day Minab was hit, while senior US officers briefed that early salvoes included Navy Tomahawks across Iran’s southern flank.
The Times had previously reported that US military statements indicating forces were attacking naval targets near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where a Revolutionary Guards’ base is located, “suggest they were most likely to have carried out the strike.”
- Near strategic waterway -
Earlier footage filmed from a parking lot showed black smoke billowing from a damaged building adorned with murals featuring drawings of crayons, children and an apple.
AFP has geolocated the clip to a building in Minab, though it has not been able to independently verify the nature of the site.
AFP has confirmed the building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.
The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the Guards navy’s medical command, lies 238 meters (780 feet) from the site, while the Seyed Al-Shohada IRGC cultural complex is 286 meters away.
AFP could not independently verify the date the footage from the car park was filmed.
- What Iran says -
Iran has said more than 150 people were killed in what President Masoud Pezeshkian described as US-Israeli strikes on the school.
According to state media, Iran held funerals for at least 165 people including students killed in the alleged attack.
State television carried images showing a large crowd of mourners weeping over what appeared to be bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
Other images released by state media showed individuals preparing coffins draped in the Iranian flag — some bearing photographs of children.
Another aerial image showed excavators digging out at least 100 graves at an unidentified mass burial site.
AFP has been unable to independently verify the date the images were taken or access the location to verify the circumstances surrounding the events.
- Trump blames Iran -
President Trump has blamed Iran.
“We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday.
On Monday, Trump said the United States was investigating the strike “right now.”
“Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report,” Trump said, adding he did not “know enough about” the strike while also suggesting Iran may have used a Tomahawk missile — a weapon it does not possess — to hit the school itself.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week said the United States would not intentionally target a school and said the Pentagon was investigating.
“The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” he told reporters.
US Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged the Pentagon to conduct an impartial probe into what happened.
- Israel not aware -
Israel’s military said it was not aware of any US or Israeli strike on a school.
“At this point not aware of an Israeli or an American strike there... We’re operating in an extremely accurate manner,” military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
- Human rights group -
Norway-based rights group Hengaw said the school was holding its morning session at the time of the reported attack and had about 170 students present.
