Greece and Turkey agree to cancel war games

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Greece and Turkey are going to cancel war games scheduled for next week on each other’s national holidays.

“Both Greece and Turkey have decided to cancel military exercises which were planned for next week,” Mr Stoltenberg told reporters after chairing a virtual meeting of Nato defence ministers, where the two countries made the announcement.

“These are steps in the right direction, they help to reduce the risks of incidents and accidents.”

🆕: #NATO SecGen @jensstoltenberg announces development on the Eastern Mediterranean: “I can confirm that both Greece 🇬🇷 and Turkey 🇹🇷 have decided to cancel military exercises which were planned for next week on their national holidays. I welcome this decision”.#EastMed #DefMin pic.twitter.com/2vlUZl0V4l

— NATO Spokesperson (@NATOpress) October 23, 2020

Earlier this month, Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Greece of planning military exercises in the Aegean Sea to coincide with Turkey’s October 29 national day celebrations.

Turkey retaliated by declaring exercises on October 28 — a Greek national holiday.

Mr Stoltenberg said he hoped the cancellation of the war games would have a positive influence on German-mediated efforts to ease tensions between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Those tensions flared over the summer and raised fears that open conflict might break out over underwater energy exploration rights.

The Nato military alliance has helped the two countries set up a system to avoid armed clashes, including a communications hotline, and talks are continuing to broaden the safeguard system.

The two countries have also agreed to resume so-called exploratory talks aimed at building confidence and resolving disputes, last held in 2016.