War games in Eastern Mediterranean

(Version anglaise seulement)

The Reliant Mermaid military exercise to be conducted by Turkey, Israel and the USA begins today. Though the press in Turkey slides around the matter, the exercise annoys all the countries in the region.

Ron Ben Yishai, military commentator for Israel's Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot, had said this about the Reliant Mermaid exercise: "When the two strongest armies in the Middle East...are focused on achieving an unwritten military alliance, and when the world's only superpower grants this process its support, other countries in the region have cause for concern."

Reliant Mermaid, one of the "joint search and rescue exercises" by the Israeli, Turkish and United States Naval and Air Forces takes start today. Turkey will be hosting the exercise. The live part of the exercise will begin on 19th August and end on 21st August.

Officially the purpose of the exercise is declared "to contribute to overall joint readiness in response to possible future humanitarian assistance efforts or maritime search and rescue operations in the region." The first Reliant Mermaid exercise was conducted in 1998 as per the military cooperation agreement signed in 1996 during the Refah Partisi government. Since then, this trilateral exercise is conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean international waters and is taken as the most important sign of the military alliance between Turkey and Israel.

The military forces in the exercise

In total 8 ships, 4 helicopters and 3 search and rescue aircraft will be employed in the exercise. The ships that will participate in the exerice on behalf of the USA belong to the 6th Fleet based in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is quite well remembered in Turkey in that it was shooed away by Deniz Gezmis and his friends.

The name of the ship to take part in the exercise on behalf of the 6th Fleet is USS Stout (DDG 55). This ship, which is an Arleigh Burke type guided missile destroyer, is both larger and has bigger destructive power compared to other cruisers of the USA. The USS StoutÂ´s name was most recently heard in Turkey on 18th June when it was protested by members of the Communist Party of Turkey when it docked at the Bodrum port.

What made the ship more famous was that it was one of the ships most frequently sent by the USA to the Black Sea following the war between Georgia and Russia. Most recently, USS Stout, which is a quite enhanced ship for a search and rescue mission and has nuclear missile capacity, sailed to the Black Sea on the 15th of last July during the a bilateral exercise conducted by Georgia and the USA.

The entering of this ship into the Black Sea was protested by Russia, and some retired generals from Russia had declared that these ships could be sunk within a few hours if a need rises.

It was announced that INS Lahav and INS Sufa frigates will be amongst the ships to participate on behalf of Israel. Both frigates are equipped with missiles and in 2006 INS Lahav was one of the ships involved in the invasion of Lebanon by Israel by blockading Lebanese harbors.

Is search and rescue the sole purpose?

The press in Turkey slides around the matter by simply quoting the official statement issued by the General Staff about the Reliable Mermaid exercise and it is simultaneously introduced as a "search and rescue exercise" by the three countries; however, it seems that other countries in the region don´t not think the same way. Until today, the exercise was condemned by all Arab countries, Russia, Iran and even by Greece which is also a NATO member country.
Palestine, Lebanon and Syria are the countries that feel themselves under direct threat. These three countries which lie in the Eastern Mediterranean region that lies between Turkey and Israel have enough reasons to feel uneasy about such a military exercise.
Israeli ships frequently open fire at Gaza shores which they keep under blockade and sink fishermen´s boats. A short time ago Lebanon was occupied by Israel; last week a high ranking officer of the Israeli army said that the Israeli army can intervene in Lebanon again due to the presence of Hezbollah in the country. THe Golan Heights of Syria is under the occupation of Israel although this is condemned by the whole world. The official newspaper of Syria, the Tishrin Daily, has described the exercise as "a mischievous exercise"

Russia has declared that the exercise "increased mistrust and handicapped the efforts of bringing stability to the region."

Iran on the other hand is quite right to feel uneasy about the exercise of Israel in the region, since Israel is has been saying for some time in the face of world public opinion that in may attack Iran.
Last month two Israeli submarines passed through Suez Canal and set sail to the Red Sea in a move perceived as an open threat against Iran.

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