Turkish army announces consequent harassment by Greek army
ANKARA
Six F-16 jets of the Air Forces Command were on a training flight over the Aegean on Dec. 23, when they were harassed by two Greek F-16 jets, by being placed under radar lock for around 2 minutes in total, the Turkish General Staff announced on Dec. 24.
“In line with rules of engagement in force, the harassment was responded to in kind by Turkish jets,” the General Staff said in a statement posted on its official website.
An almost identical statement was released by the Turkish General Staff on Dec. 23, concerning a similar “harassment” by Greek air forces.
The Turkish Air Force’s F-16 war jets were performing training flights over the Aegean Sea when two Greek F-16 jets harassed six Turkish planes by placing them under radar lock for 3.5 minutes, said the Dec. 23 statement, noting that Turkish aircrafts responded in kind.
Meanwhile, a Greek news portal offered a different account of the incident as announced by the Turkish side on Dec. 23, which took place on Dec. 22.
“The Greek military was set on alert earlier today [Dec. 23] after a new barrage and violation of the country’s air space (Athens FIR) by Turkish jets that flew over the Aegean Sea on Monday [Dec. 22],” greece.greekreporter.com reported on Dec. 23.
“According to information emerging from the Greek Ministry of National Defense, a formation of six Turkish fighter jets entered the Athens FIR, flying over the northern and central Aegean Sea, but were apparently chased away by Greek jets, the crews of which responded immediately,” the same news portal said.
Ankara argues that international agreements on the matter underlining the necessity to inform the Greek side about Turkish flights in the Flight Information Region (FIR) applies only to civilian, and not military, planes.