Erdogan: Turkey will make no concessions in eastern Mediterranean

Turkey says it will hold live-fire exercises in the eastern Mediterranean on September 1 and 2, the latest in a series of military drills that have fuelled tensions with Greece, Al Jazeera reports. 

The Turkish navy issued the latest advisory, known as a Navtex, on Thursday saying it will hold the shooting exercises in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Iskenderun, northeast of Cyprus.

The two NATO states have been locked in a bitter dispute over control of eastern Mediterranean waters that escalated after Ankara sent a seismic survey vessel to the disputed region this month - a move that Athens called illegal.

Turkey accused France of stoking tensions after Paris said it would join Italy, Greece and Cyprus in three-day air and sea military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean.