UAE to send F-16s to Crete for training with Greek military amid tensions with Turkey

Al-Monitor Staff

Aug 21, 2020

A fight plane of the type F-16 (L) of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) starts from the airbase in N√∂rvenich, western Germany, on August 20, 2020, during the first joint German-Israeli military air exercise "Blue Wings 2020". (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN / AFP) (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP via Getty Images) — A fight plane of the type F-16 (L) of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) starts from the airbase in Nörvenich, western Germany, on Aug. 20, 2020, during the first joint German-Israeli military air exercise "Blue Wings 2020". — SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP via Getty Images

The United Arab Emirates is sending four F-16 fighter aircraft for joint training with the Greek military on Crete, an Athens-based daily newspaper reported Friday.

The aircraft will partake in training exercise with Greece’s military over the Eastern Mediterranean amid heightened tensions with Turkey, which has deployed naval vessels to escort a hydrocarbon exploration ship to waters claimed by Greece.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C-L) and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visit the Greek Naval frigate Salamis during their visit to the Naval Support Activity base at Souda, the foremost US naval facility in the eastern Mediterranean on the Greek island of Crete. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on September 29, 2020, concludes a two-day visit to Greece on with a tour of a strategically vital NATO base on a trip aimed at easing tensions between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.

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The Hellenic Navy Roussen or Super Vita class Fast Missile Patrol Boat P 71 HS Ritsos is seen off the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, officially Megisti, the most southeastern inhabited Greek island in the Dodecanese, situated two kilometers off the south coast of Turkey where the Kas Turkish resort can be seen on August 28, 2020. (Photo by Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP) (Photo by LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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AT SEA - MARCH 30: The sun rises over the Turkish coastline as Portuguese Frontex crew monitor the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece for boats carrying refugees on March 30, 2016 near Mithymna, Greece. Frontex is a European Union border agency and was established in 2004 to manage the cooperation between national border guards in securing their external borders. New arrivals of refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos have reduced dramatically to almost non over the last week, since a deal between

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UAE to send F-16s to Crete for training with Greek military amid tensions with Turkey

The UAE is the latest country to show support for Greece amid a tense maritime dispute with Turkey

UAE to send F-16s to Crete for training with Greek military amid tensions with Turkey

The UAE is the latest country to show support for Greece amid a tense maritime dispute with Turkey

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Crete at center of converging, conflicting interests for Turkey, Greece in EastMed

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