BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:20 A.M.) – The Saudi Ministry of Defense published a video and photos documenting the first moments of the arrival of a group of its warplanes to participate in military exercises in Greece.
The Saudi commander of the exercise, Colonel Abdul Rahman bin Saeed Al-Shehri, indicated that the air forces participating in the joint Saudi-Greek exercise had completed their arrival at the Souda base.
He explained that the exercise aims to “support the bonds of joint cooperation between the Saudi Air Force and the Greek Air Force, exchange experiences between the two sides and raise combat readiness.”
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The clip showed Saudi F-15 fighters upon their arrival at the Greek Souda base on the island of Crete to participate in the “Eye of the Falcon 1” exercise.
#فيديو_الدفاع
وصول مجموعة #القوات_الجوية_الملكية_السعودية المشاركة في مناورات #تمرين_عين_الصقر_1 بجمهورية #اليونان.#نتعاون_مانتهاون pic.twitter.com/55i2swK9TP
— وزارة الدفاع 🇸🇦 (@modgovksa) March 13, 2021
Earlier in the day, Al-Arabiya TV said, “The Saudi and Greek air forces will carry out their sorties over the Mediterranean sky,” in the training scheduled to be launched within days.
On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented on the joint military exercises between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Greece.
In statements to reporters, as reported by RT Arabic, Erdogan said, “We will discuss this issue with the Saudi authorities.”
Erdogan said that these maneuvers with Greece are “not suitable for the participation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
وصول مجموعة #القوات_الجوية_الملكية_السعودية المشاركة في مناورات #تمرين_عين_الصقر_1 بجمهورية #اليونان.#نتعاون_مانتهاون pic.twitter.com/ZtSp2RmIUF
— وزارة الدفاع 🇸🇦 (@modgovksa) March 13, 2021
This was preceded by statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu alluding to his country’s efforts to improve relations with Riyadh.
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This is not the first time that a Gulf country has participated in joint maneuvers with Athens, as the UAE previously participated in a two-week training exercise at the Souda military base on the Greek island of Crete, at the end of August 2020.
Sources: RT, Al-Arabiya, Saudi Ministry of Defense
