Vertical reduction of tensions and improvement of relations Greece And Turkey at the diplomatic level, they correspond almost exactly to the situation in the operational area. Both sides, in addition to opening channels that can be used at this pre-election stage, they also reached an informal agreement to confine themselves to the absolutely essential military exercises in the Aegean.

Particularly at the naval level. Athena And Ankara unofficially agreed that until the electoral landscape clears up and the electoral cycle in the two countries is completed, there will be no large-scale naval exercises, except, of course, NATO or other multinational collaborations.

In particular, the next stages of the national exercises “Lightning”, “Ormi”, “Thunder”, the first annual stages of which ended in mid-February in the western part of the Aegean Sea (Myrtoos, Western Cyclades, western Crete), or will not take place at all until the end of summer or they will be limited to maintaining the gyms of the crews’ capabilities at the already declared and indisputable training grounds. It is noteworthy that this year international aviation exercises “Iniohos-2023” forces from the USA and Israel will not participate (as “K” discovered in time), i.e. two countries that directly or indirectly wish to contribute to the reduction of Greek-Turkish tensions.

This informal moratorium, which is expected to last all summer, is beneficial to both parties for various reasons. Time will be given on the Greek side so that its main units Navy (PN) to enter the maintenance process after an uninterrupted vigil of nearly three years that began shortly before the Oruch Reis crisis.

On an ongoing basis, a total of 12 P.N. are in daily service (in the Aegean Sea or in missions outside of Greece), so there is an order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Navy Konstantinos Floros to gradually start repair work on the ships of the Fleet in order to give “breath” to systems that work constantly and in any conditions. On the Turkish side, a huge percentage of the fleet (almost 80%) is concentrated in the bays of Alexandretta and Mersin, with an exclusively non-military task, namely servicing the needs of residents of earthquake-affected areas (care, hospitality, transportation of necessary supplies).

In the air, the number of violations by Turkish fighters has dropped sharply, and there have been no overflights or interference since February 6.

In the air, the number of major violations has dropped sharply, and there have been no overflights and traffic jams since February 6.

positive agenda

Near, Today Ankara will host the fourth round of advancing the dialogue with Turkey on the so-called positive agenda in the economy and trade. Kostas Fragoyannis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and External Relations, is meeting today with his Turkish counterpart Burak Aksapar. This is the fourth meeting of its kind, the last of which took place last February in Athens.

The meeting will discuss the progress of work on 25 agreed topics of the positive agenda, including issues related to transport, tourism, energy, infrastructure, shipping, civil protection, etc. It is recalled that the positive agenda is a process agreed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias And Mevlut Cavusoglu in April 2021 in order to find a minimum point of contact so that both parties do not end up with a complete shutdown of all communication channels. It is noted that in the conditions of an absolute lack of communication, communication between the ministers of national defense remained the only channel – through the mediation of the Americans.

Corvettes on the table

Italian Defense Minister Guido Croceto was received by the Prime Minister last night at the Maximos Palace. Kyriakos Mitsotakisat which he arranged a dinner with the Greek minister, who was also present Nikos Panagiotopoulos. The visit of the Italian minister to Athens is, of course, connected with the expected decision of the Greek government on the supply of corvettes for the Navy (PN). As you know, Athens has compiled a list of two types: the French Gowind 2500 and the Italian FCx30 (Doha). Both companies presented new and improved offerings.

Both proposals are about the same cost, while they also include a clause on in-house production in Greek shipyards (Skaramaga or Elefsinas), and from P.N. both are considered satisfactory for the needs they are intended to cover. Thus, this decision is now clearly linked to the government’s political considerations and the prime minister’s desire to announce his choice before or after the next election. However, in addition to corvettes, Greek-Italian contacts are also connected with the position of Rome in Libya, which differs to a large extent from the views of Athens.