CAIRO — The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced July 25 via Twitter that the Turkish air force carried out military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean. It also posted photos and videos confirming the drill.

This comes in light of the escalating regional tensions between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as between Turkey and Egypt on Libya.

Greek news website Greek City Times reported July 26 that Turkey “withdrew some warships” from an area off the coast of Greece and deleted a tweet from the Turkish Embassy in the United States saying the Turkish drilling ship Oruc Reis had begun research in the eastern Mediterranean. The website said that the Oruc Reis “remains moored outside Antalya.”

Maj. Gen. Nasr Salem, former head of the Egyptian army’s reconnaissance and professor of strategic sciences at Nasser Military Academy, told Al-Monitor, “These exercises are messages to specific parties. Turkey mainly aims to reassure the [Libyan] Government of National Accord [GNA] headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj as well as the Syrian mercenaries that are working to tranfer them to Libyan territory that it can protect them. It is also sending a message to Greece, by showing off its naval capabilities.”