It was organised in the 1970s in response to political tensions with Greece – the ongoing Aegean dispute and the Cyprus problem.

Greece, on the other hand, perceives the presence of the Aegean Army as a threat to its islands, citing strong offensive capabilities ascribed to the Aegean Army as well as the exposed and isolated geographical position of the islands, the 5 most populous of which are several hundred kilometres distant from the Greek mainland, yet sit only 2–3 km from Turkey's, as reasons of concern.

Greek sources particularly point to the strong amphibian forces maintained by the Aegean Army as an indicator of its offensive nature.

[2] Turkey has countered such concerns by stating that besides being of a fundamentally defensive nature it is "basically a training army".

[3] It was established on July 20, 1975, independently from NATO, when the situation became more tense and the possibility of war increased with the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which was made in a period when the tension increased after the coup in Greece on April 21, 1967, against the threat posed by the armament of Greece in the Aegean islands.