Eisenhower Strike Group conducts joint exercise with Turkish Navy

March 18 (UPI) -- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group conducted a passing and communication exercise with the Turkish Navy in the Mediterranean Sea this week, the Navy said on Thursday.

"It is a pleasure working with our Turkish Allies and continuing to build upon a 70-year foundation of shared values and experiences," Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, Commander, Carrier Strike Group TWO, said Wednesday in a Navy press release.

The strike group, the carrier, cruisers and destroyers, worked with the Turkish ship TCG Gemlik on Tuesday and Wednesday using NATO operational and tactical procedures, according to the release.

"Conducting operations with Turkish Naval forces demonstrates America's commitment to our like-minded allies and supports the notion that we are far stronger and more capable to uphold free and open conditions at sea when we stand together," Robertson said.

The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is a multiplatform team of ships, aircraft and more than 5,000 sailors.

At the end of February the Navy announced that the strike group was leading a large flight operations exercise near the the Canary Islands.

Earlier this week the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey conducted joint maritime security patrol with the Israeli Sa'ar 4.5 ships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

And at the beginning of March USS Donald Cook joined the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in a NATO exercise in the Mediterranean Sea.