Israeli ‘error’ annoys Athens
There was consternation in the ranks of the Defense Ministry yesterday as sources told Kathimerini that a joint military exercise being conducted off the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo by US, Israeli and Turkish forces had been described by Israeli military authorities as being in Turkish territory. According to Greek defense sources, the Israeli Defense Forces website stated that the exercise, code-named Reliant Mermaid, was «the tenth to be conducted in a Turkish search and rescue region in the eastern Mediterranean.» When Kathimerini accessed the IDF site late last night, the Turkish reference appeared to have been removed. Sources told Kathimerini that the reference had been posted on the Israeli site even though Israeli and US diplomats in Athens had been informed that the region in question falls within Greece’s sovereign domain.
