Greek harassment of Turkish jets by S-300s not acceptable: Akar

ANKARA

Türkiye has said the Greek harassment of the Turkish jets by the S-300 air defense system over the Aegean is unacceptable, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said.

“This blunt impertinence and this sort of arrogance are unacceptable. Our navy, land and air forces will never step back when they are harassed,” Akar told the reporters on Aug. 29. His reaction follows consecutive harassment of the Turkish jets by the Greek warplanes in the past week and by the Crete-based S-300 air defense systems recently.

“It’s unfortunate that this bad neighboring country is continuing its harassment in different ways. Let me clarify once again: Our forces will never retreat when they are harassed,” he stated.

Recalling that Türkiye had to purchase S-400 systems from Russia after its requests to buy Patriot systems from the U.S. and SAMP/T from France, Akar draws attention to the fact that Greece is now using the S-300s against a NATO ally. “This behavior of our bad neighbor should be seen and explained,” he said.

The defense minister also criticized Greece for misinforming the public opinion by suggesting they could not identify the Turkish jets. “The programs were made [at NATO] and posted everywhere. On Aug. 22, the Turkish jets were supposed to escort the American warplanes and the Greek ones to do the same a few days later. This bad neighbor denied all these and even lied by saying, ‘We were not informed,’” Akar stated.