Turkey deploys another drillship in Eastern Med

In what is seen as part of a concerted effort by Ankara to entrench its presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey issued a navigational telex Thursday reserving a sea area within its territorial waters north of Cyprus for drilling activities until mid-June.

At the same time, Turkey is maintaining its presence around Cyprus, with the Fatih drillship in the island's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the Barbaros research vessel south of the city of Limassol.

Another drillship, the Yavuz, is currently stationed in the Sea of Marmara. If it is also deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, it will become the third Turkish vessel with a presence in the area.

Meanwhile, tensions rose again over the southeastern Aegean Thursday after Turkish jets violated Greek national airspace as Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis attended a ceremony marking the anniversary of...