‘Blue Country 2025’: Turkey’s fleet again in the Aegean after two years of rest – Navy on alert

After two years she again carries out the exercise “MAVI VATAN” or “. ” This is Turkey’s largest aeronautical exercise, which in the past was advertised as much as no other in the context of the “Blue Country” doctrine. ADVERSE It was April 2022 when the Turkish fleet had again come out to the Aegean as part of the exercise “GARAZIA PATRIS” (MAVI VATAN) . With barrage of propaganda publications, Turkey’s media aired the “conquest” of Archipelagos and spoke of showing power over Greece. 2023 was the year of Ankara’s major change in relations with Athens, following the major devastating earthquake in eastern Turkey on 6 February. “MAVI VATAN 23”, as it was natural, was cancelled as even the crews of Turkish warships were drafted to assist the earthquake-stricken areas. It was the beginning of the period that was described as “soft waters”. In 2024 the “GARAZIA PATRID” again did not take place, in the sense of avoiding the challenges, with corresponding movements of deescalation taking place on the Greek side. CORVERSE All this time the presence of Turkish warships in the Aegean, let alone near the islands of Greece, was particularly limited, with neighbors conducting small-scale exercises and always avoiding actions that could cause tension conditions, while at the same time stopping the violations and violations of militants in the National Airspace and FIR Athens. Ankara argued that it was a region of Turkish jurisdiction within the EEZ, to take diplomatic actions to deescalate the apparent crisis. Turkish ships participated in the exercise “MAVI BALINA” in International Waters, without until then the slightest tension has been caused. At the same time, all the navtexs that Turkey issued during this period of time for exercises in the Aegean mainly concerned marine areas very close to the Turkish coast, as opposed to previous years, when the ships of the neighbour reached the “heart” of the Aegean and in some cases even near the coast of mainland Greece. “MAVI VATAN 25” will take place according to the design from 7 to 16 January and remains to be seen the areas which the Turkish navy will commit to, in which the exercise will take place. Of course, the scripts of “BLUE HOMELAND” are also interesting, as in 2022 a cross-branch air landing scenario was carried out. In “MAVI VATAN 25” a total of 87 Surface Units, 7 submarines, 7 amphibian USV, 31 aircraft, 17 helicopters and 28 UAV/UCAV will be involved. A total of 20,000 men and women of the Turkish Armed Forces, including SAT commandos, will take part in the exercise. The figures, if confirmed, refer to corresponding large-scale exercises of the past. The Navy will be on increased alert. Turkish ships are expected to oversee Fleet Units with the “marking” becoming more intense in case of challenges from the Turkish side. Source: OnAlert.gr / Kostas Sarikas