Dozens of violations of Greek national airspace by Turkey were registered on Friday by the Athens Flight Information Region.
And while almost all Turkish aircraft were intercepted by Greek fighter jets as per international protocol, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff stated that one interception turned into a dogfight.
The breakdown of infringements reportedly consisted of: 29 by CN-235s, 3 by fighter jets and 12 by Unarmed Aerial Vehicles across the Greek archipelago, while 2 Turkish aircraft were carrying weapons.
The Greek Foreign ministry strongly condemned in particular the incursion of the two fighter jets within 2.5 nautical miles of the northeastern city of Alexandroupoli on Friday, calling the incident an “unprecedented violation of national sovereignty.”
But Ankara responded with a claim that violations were conducted “based on reciprocity and in accordance with” the Turkish Air Force’s rules of engagement alleging that Greece had already violated the neighbouring country’s airspace twice this week.
“F-16 aircraft belonging to the Greek Air Force violated Turkish airspace to the west of Gokceada (Imvros) on 16 May 2022 and to the west of (the Eastern Thrace city of) Enez on 17 May 2022. The Turkish Air Force reacted to these provocative violations on 18 May 2022, based on reciprocity and in accordance with their rules of engagement,” Ambassador Tanju Bilgic, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said in a statement.
The spokesman blamed Greece for the tension claiming it “started with its own provocative actions” and accused Greece of “attempting to create a misperception against [Turkey] in international public.”
Athens responded swiftly to Ankara’s allegations on Saturday rejecting them as false and serving an “attempt by Turkey to misinform and deny responsibility for its illegal and provocative actions.”
In a statement Greece’s Foreign Ministry noted:
“It is paradoxical, to say the least, that a country which recently conducted 42 [military] flights over Greek territory in a single day and which threatens Greece with war in violation of fundamental principles of the UN Charter, accuses Greece of [engaging in] provocative activities.”
Following the incidents, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked to comment on the Turkish military flights and their impact on NATO’s stability, to which he replied:
“We encourage all countries to respect the sovereign airspace of other countries and to operate state aircraft with due regard for the safety of navigation of civil aircraft. Where disagreements exist over the limits of a country’s territorial airspace, we urge coordination and discussion, not provocative actions that could lead to deadly accidents. As a matter of principle, we encourage all states to resolve maritime delimitation issues peacefully and in accordance with international law.”