Law of the sea

Nicosia has criticized UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for failing to condemn Turkey's violation of Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Turkish Navy corvette TCG Buyukada exited Greece's territorial waters at 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a statement by the country's National Defense General Staff (GEETHA).

Defense Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday appeared to play down the presence of a Turkish Navy corvette in Greek waters, referring to “predictable” tactics by Ankara, but the latest in a series of transgressions fueled concern in the ranks of the government, with Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos condemning the “blatant violation of international law” by Turkey off the coast of Cyprus.

NATO has visibly increased its presence and military activities in the Black Sea in a bid to display deterrence toward Russia, in the wake of the ongoing Ukraine crisis and after a shift in Turkey’s strict implementation of the Montreux Convention that regulates the passage of non-literal countries’ military vessels from the straits.

The USA will send around 600 troops to Poland and the Baltic States for infantry exercises, said the Pentagon. 

According to Rear Admiral John Kirby, this is in response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

The first contingent of 150 soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Italy, will arrive in Poland on Wednesday to conduct infantry exercises. 

It is US military vessels and not Russia's airplanes that pose a problem in the Black Sea, Russia's Ambassador to Bulgaria Yury Isakov said on Friday.

Two vessels one from the US and another from France, passed through the Dardanelles strait early on Thursday without informing of their destination.

The announcement by Turkish authorities quoted by the website of Daily Sabah adds up to earlier reports that only the destroyer USS Donald Cook passed through the Black Sea Straits.

A US warship was allowed on Wednesday to pass through the Turkey-controlled Black Sea straits.

The ship, which enters the Black Sea amid escalating tensions on the Crimean Peninsula, is expected to travel through the straits within the next few days, as Turkish newspaper Zaman has reported.