Turkey plans to deploy 11 submarines between March 10 to 20 covering an area from the Dardanelles Straits and reaching across the entire Aegean Sea including Crete until the Ionian Sea between Kafalonia and Zakynthos in the framework of a military exercise, according to Greek military site militaire.gr.

As the site reports, Turkey has already released all the relevant announcements of its military exercise. The sea “blockade” of the Aegean and the presence of Turkish submarines even in the Ionian Sea is a tactic Turkey has been using since 2006.

The plan is one more element in Turkey’s multi-pronged provocative policy towards Greece and its tactical choice to intensify pressure on Greece, the others at this stage being with the exploitation of refugees on the borders as well as its constant violation of Greek airspace on virtually a daily basis.

The programmed exercise is expected to strain the already tense relations between the two countries and the EU.