Denizkurdu, or Sea Wolf, returned for its first phase on Sunday. Turkish Naval Forces launched the twice-yearly drill, which will continue until Sept. 25, to polish the skills of its personnel and demonstrate the growing power of its fleet, bolstered by locally made vehicles.
Sea Wolf, involving 100 vessels, 50 aircraft, including drones, and 14,000 military personnel, will test the navy in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. Türkiye seeks to assert its authority in the three seas through the “Blue Homeland” concept of preserving its maritime boundaries. The exercise comes amid growing tensions between Türkiye and Greece over a dispute regarding Aegean borders and the military status of Greek islands lying a few miles from the Turkish coast. The exercise is being held on Sept. 20-25.
The Turkish military will simultaneously conduct drills in the three seas. Along with the naval forces, soldiers from the land forces, air forces and coast guard will participate in the drills. The Defense Ministry recently said the exercise would include training for operational preparedness and weapons training.
Sea Wolf exercises, which are held in two phases every year, “Denizkurdu-I” and “Denizkurdu-II,” are among the largest maritime drills in the Turkish Armed Forces’ calendar. They serve to demonstrate Türkiye’s naval deterrence and its ability to coordinate across multiple regions, including the Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean.
Türkiye continues to modernize its naval capabilities through domestic platforms, including the TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship and domestically produced unmanned sea vehicles. Along with the TCG Anadolu, the TCG Istanbul frigate, the TCG Derya replenishment ship and the Murat Reis submarine, Türkiye’s domestic naval defense capabilities are further enhanced by unmanned surface vessels, including Marlin, Sancar, Ulaq and Salvo.
Türkiye is currently working on the National Aircraft Carrier (MUGEM) project, which is expected to enter service in 2032. The carrier will operate unmanned aerial vehicles, air defense systems, command-and-control platforms and other domestically developed defense systems.
The exercise will likely be closely observed by Greece, especially after a warning issued by the Defense Ministry to Athens last Thursday. The ministry invited Greece “to adhere to its obligations under international agreements and avoid activities incompatible with the demilitarized status of the islands” after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Kastellorizo island, near the Turkish coast, over the weekend.
“The Greek prime minister’s visit to the island of Kastellorizo with his accompanying delegation and his contacts with military personnel stationed there have been closely followed. The deployment of military personnel and warships on Kastellorizo, which was ceded to Greece under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty on the condition that it maintain a demilitarized status, and the public display of these military assets as part of high-level visits are incompatible with the island’s status and do not contribute to peace and stability,” the ministry said.
“We once again emphasize that efforts to create a de facto situation in violation of Kastellorizo’s demilitarized status, given its extremely close proximity to the Turkish coast, are incompatible with international obligations and will not be accepted by our country. While Türkiye advocates making the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of peace and stability and developing relations between Türkiye and Greece on the basis of good-neighborly relations and dialogue, this approach does not mean that we will tolerate the disregard of rights and obligations arising from international treaties or the creation of de facto situations on the ground,” the ministry said.
Mitsotakis said during the visit that the island did not pose a threat to Türkiye, describing it as “a Greek and European outpost.” The visit came weeks after Greece signed a major defense deal with Türkiye’s archfoe Israel and unveiled plans to boost its air defenses.
The ministry also responded to questions about the deployment of a commando brigade to Söke, a western Turkish town opposite the Greek island of Samos, saying it was “an arrangement made in line with the mission and operational requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces” and was approved in June following “evaluations.”
Greek media outlets had already sounded the alarm over the Sea Wolf exercise. Ta Nea newspaper portrayed it as a “military activity at a critical conjuncture, a show of force with political and military messages,” while the Neos Kosmos news website reported it under the headline “Alarm in the Aegean” and noted that Greek warships, submarines and surveillance crews would monitor the movements of the Turkish navy during the drills.
Greece itself joined Egypt for the Medusa-15 naval exercise last week in the Mediterranean Sea, only to be mocked on Turkish social media over the less-than-perfect landing skills of Greek troops on a beach, including some troops stumbling while jumping onto the beach and others falling into the water after losing their balance because of their heavy loads.
Earlier this month, Greek and Israeli navies also held a joint maritime drill in the Mediterranean, with the participation of two Israeli and two Greek vessels.
Türkiye is also on alert over the military activities of Greek Cypriots on the divided island of Cyprus. Like Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration has stepped up its partnership with Israel, Türkiye’s chief enemy, to the chagrin of Ankara and Turkish Cypriots on the island.
Greek Cypriots are expected to showcase the Barak MX air defense system they acquired from Israel for the first time on Oct. 1, during a military parade on the island. Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias will also be present at the parade, along with officials from Egypt.
Greek Cypriot, Greek and Egyptian ministers are also scheduled to hold a joint meeting on future joint military drills and training activities in the coming days.
Greek Cypriots are also working on the modernization of an air base in Baf, or Paphos.
