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Turkey Launches 'Mediterranean Storm' Maneuvers

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (L) speaks next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a press conference after their meeting in Athens on 10 October 2019. [ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images]
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (L) speaks next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a press conference after their meeting in Athens on 10 October 2019. [ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images]
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Turkey Launches 'Mediterranean Storm' Maneuvers

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (L) speaks next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a press conference after their meeting in Athens on 10 October 2019. [ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images]
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (L) speaks next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a press conference after their meeting in Athens on 10 October 2019. [ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images]

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced launching the “Mediterranean Storm” maneuvers from September 6th to 10th.

The statement continued that “Turkish air, land, and sea forces are participating in the exercises,” and that “the exercises include joint and actual exercises on airstrikes and combat search and rescue operations.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: They will understand that Turkey has political, economic, military might needed to cast off immoral maps and documents imposed by others.”

“Turkey is prepared for any type of sharing, so long as it’s honest”, he added.

Turkey supports an initiative on talks between military officials of Turkey and Greece, which was launched by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Hulusi Akar said at a graduation ceremony at the National Defense University in Ankara.

France’s statements on the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq “do not contribute to the spirit of the alliance, nor to peace or dialogue,” Akar said.

In the same context, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed last Friday with Stoltenberg the latest developments during a phone call.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias briefed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Turkey’s provocations against peace and regional stability in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, at their meeting in New York on Friday.

In the meantime, the Turkish opposition renewed its criticism to the president and the government as well as for ruining ties with Egypt. Faik Oztrak, the spokesman of the Republican People's Party, said that Greece managed to isolate Turkey diplomatically while Erdogan was busy accomplishing his ‘empty dreams’ which he has been committed to for years.

Oztrak criticized Turkey declaring its readiness to sit and talk with everyone.

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Australia Provided Support for US Airstrikes on Houthis

Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
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Australia Provided Support for US Airstrikes on Houthis

Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)

Australian officials said on Friday that their country provided support for US strikes conducted on Thursday targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen, according to Reuters.
The US said it carried out strikes on Wednesday against five underground weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, in a strike that used long range B-2 stealth bombers against the Iran-aligned group for the first time.
“Australia provided support for US strikes conducted on 17 October 2024 targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen, through access and overflight for US aircraft in northern Australia,” an Australian defense official said in a statement.
“This support is consistent with our long-standing alliance commitment and close cooperation, demonstrating the interoperability of our militaries,” it added.
The B-2 bomber aircraft involved in the strikes on Yemen did not operate from Australia, however the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported air-to-air refueling had been conducted.
Reuters reported in July that Royal Australian Air Force bases in Tindal and Darwin in northern Australia were being upgraded to cater for US bomber and refueling aircraft with US defense funding, as Australia has re-emerged as a strategically vital Indo-Pacific location for the US amid rising tensions with China.
The US has large jet fuel stores at Tindal and Darwin, according to Reuters.

Precision Strikes
On Thursday, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the US military, including air force B-2 bombers, conducted precision strikes against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
He said US forces targeted several of the Houthis’ underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region.
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” Austin said in a statement.
The Houthis later admitted that airstrikes had hit Sana’a, and the stronghold of Saada. In a statement by its politburo, the group pledged that the attacks “will not go unanswered.”
It said those airstrikes will not deter them from continuing their attacks in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Houthis said they received more than 700 airstrikes after the US and Western strikes on the militia group began on January 12.
Late last year, the US announced the formation of an international escort coalition code-named Operation Guardians of Prosperity in response to the Houthi attacks.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have conducted about 193 attacks in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean, aiming to disrupt Israeli-linked and other vessels, including those from the US and UK.
The strikes, they claim, are in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.