Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak warned in an op-ed article that Turkey might be forced to confront the US Navy in the eastern Mediterranean and not the forces of Greece or Cyprus.

Writing in the pro-government newspaper, military analyst Turag Oguz interpreted the presence of US Ambassador to Cyprus, Cathleen Doherty on the Exxon Mobil drilling rig off the coast of Cyprus as a clear message to Turkey.

The analyst underlines that through the ambassador’s visit, the United States is officially declaring their full support to the “illegal” Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus.

The paper published a US military map showing the military presence of US in the region around Turkey, the eastern Mediterranean, Syria and the Black Sea, noting that the US “has spread its tentacles around Turkey as an octopus.”

“We have to understand that in the medium term we may be confronted, not with the Greek navy, but with the American forces,” the pundit writes.