Turkey and Egypt are set to conduct joint naval exercises in Alexandria from November 4 to 9, Ankara announced, just day...

Turkey and Egypt are set to conduct joint naval exercises in Alexandria from November 4 to 9, Ankara announced, just days after eastern Libya's parliament ratified a disputed 2019 maritime boundary agreement between Turkey and Libya that Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, the EU and Israel all reject. The Turkish Defense Ministry said the exercise, called Sea of Friendship 2026, will cover surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, air defense and underwater offensive operations involving combat divers. The Turkish corvette TCG Burgazada is scheduled to arrive in Alexandria on November 1, three days ahead of the drills. The timing is significant. Libya's House of Representatives ratified the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum on October 20, reigniting tensions across the eastern Mediterranean. That deal is widely seen as illegitimate by regional powers because it disregards the maritime rights of Greek islands. Turkey has used the moment to revive a pitch to Egypt for a separate maritime boundary agreement, claiming Cairo would gain more than 15,000 additional square kilometers of maritime jurisdiction compared to any deal Egypt might sign with Greece. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis dismissed the offer bluntly, saying maritime zones are "not up for auction" and must be governed by international law. Egypt and Greece stand together on the maritime dispute. Gerapetritis confirmed that Egypt's UN representative stood beside him in New York when they jointly issued a statement opposing the Turkey-Libya memorandum, alongside representatives from Cyprus, Bahrain, the UAE and the EU. Turkey and Egypt suspended the Sea of Friendship exercises for 13 years after Cairo's Muslim Brotherhood government was ousted. The drills resumed in September 2025 following a diplomatic normalization in 2024, and a letter of intent on defense cooperation was signed in July 2026 when Egyptian Defense Minister Ashraf Salem Zaher visited Ankara. Separately, the head of Greece's Tactical Air Force will visit Turkey's Air Force Command from November 3 to 5 under the two countries' confidence-building measures framework. #Greece #EasternMediterranean #Turkey