Mare Nostrum Mediterranean Fleet, with bases in UK-controlled Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Egypt, and Mandatory Palestine remained the only threat to Italian naval power in the Mediterranean. The invasions of Albania, Greece and Egypt, and the Siege of Malta sought to extend Axis control over the Sea. This policy was so far-reaching and potentially intrusive, that it threatened neutral nations like Turkey, a threat that İsmet İnönü, the president of Turkey at the time of war, countered by promising to enter the war only if the Soviet Union joined the Allies. Mussolini dreamed of creating an Imperial Italy in his "Mare Nostrum" and
Mare Moscoviense the first images of the far side were returned by Luna 3 in 1959. The name was approved by the IAU in 1961. The names of maria generally call up psychic states of mind, with a few exceptions. When Mare Moscoviense was discovered, and the name was proposed by the Soviet Union, it was only accepted by the International Astronomical Union with the justification that Moscow is a state of mind. Mare Moscoviense Mare Moscoviense ("Sea of Moscow") is a lunar mare that sits in the Moscoviense basin. It is one of the very few maria on the far side