Turkey attempting to raise obstacles to naval exercise

The recent issue by Turkey of a series of navigational warnings (NAVWARNs) containing information for naval vessels is seen by top military sources as an attempt to raise obstacles to the Greek naval training exercise “Kataigida ’20,” which starts on Monday.

The NAVWARNS promote Turkish positions on issues pertaining to its sea border disputes with Greece, with Ankara essentially accusing Athens of violating the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Greece views the specific NAVWARNS (684, 685 and 686/20) as invalid and empty of content.

The assessment of Greek authorities is that these warnings are generally ignored in their entirety, especially by those to whom they are addressed, namely sailors.

This is due to the generally neutral stance taken by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) regarding Turkish NAVWARNS that contain political content.