Russia is to hold two naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean beginning next week, the Turkish Navy said.
The Russian Navy would hold firing exercises from Tuesday next week to Sept. 22 and from Sept. 17 to 25, a Turkish Navy Web site said on Wednesday.
It urged Russia not to interfere with seismic work by Turkish survey ships south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo and off Cyprus’ Karpas Peninsula.
The exercises would come after Turkey condemned the US for easing a decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus, saying the move could increase tensions over its territorial disputes with Greece and Cyprus.
Ankara urged Washington to reverse course, saying that it would otherwise take “reciprocal steps” to safeguard Turkish Cypriot people in Cyprus.
Turkey is at loggerheads with the US and other NATO allies over its purchase of S-400 missile-defense systems from Moscow.
It was not immediately clear whether Russia was intending to send a message of support for Turkey with the planned exercises in the Mediterranean.
There was no immediate public comment or confirmation from Russia on the maneuvers.
Turkish forces captured the northern third of Cyprus in 1974, following a coup attempt in which a military junta in Athens sought to unite Cyprus with Greece.
The US embargo was imposed in 1987 to prevent an arms race and give diplomacy a chance to try to reunify the island of Cyprus.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Tuesday announced on Twitter that the embargo had been eased.
The US move comes as the EU considers further sanctions against Turkey over its energy exploration in contested waters off the eastern Mediterranean — where Israel, Cyprus and Egypt have discovered substantial reserves of natural gas.
European diplomats are working to ease strains fueled by conflicting interpretations of maritime boundaries, and the feud between Turkey and Cyprus over offshore gas reserves around the island.
The Republic of Cyprus officially has sovereignty over the entire island, although it in effect remains divided.
The Northern Cypriot self-proclaimed state — recognized only by Ankara — also claims rights to any energy resources discovered off its coast.
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