Turkey follows mobilization of U.S. troops in Greece’s Dedeağaç

ANKARA

Turkey is closely following the military mobilization of the U.S. troops in Greece’s Dedeağaç port but it is not about an intense deployment, sources from the Defense Ministry said on Nov. 30.

The U.S. made the shipments within the scope of “Operation Atlantic Resolve,” the sources said, noting that these were strategic transfer and logistics activities that have been carried out since 2014.

“The activities that were carried out over the Baltic before have recently been carried out through Alexandroupoli. These are rotational activities that involve the rotation of the U.S.’ own logistics and combat elements to Europe to contribute to European security, training them for a certain period of time and then returning them back,” the sources said.

In this context, there is not a huge accumulation, the sources added.

The same sources answered the question regarding Turkey’s request for F-16s from the U.S. “We delivered our F-16 request to the United States. They are under evaluation. We will see together how this issue will turn out when it goes to Congress,” they said.

Fifteen F-15E aircraft belonging to the U.S. Air Forces have arrived at an airbase in Greece in support of a multinational training event on the eve of the signing of the updated new protocol of the Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) between Athens and Washington.

The aircraft will support Operation Castle Forge, which will be carried out within the framework of the military cooperation in the Black Sea region.

The Castle Forge exercise aims at increasing interoperability with NATO allies in relation to the U.S. collective defense strategy in the Black Sea region and improving the ability of joint forces to respond flexibly in times of crisis, the Greek Air Force said in a statement.