Turkey violates Greek airspace 141 times in a day - Athens blast ‘flagrant violation’
TENSIONS between Greece and Turkey are increasing after Athens accused Ankara of violating its airspace 141 times in just one day.
UN Secretary General EXCUSES Turkey violating Greek airspace
Twenty Turkish F-16, 5 CN-235 maritime surveillance aircraft and 19 helicopters entered the Athens flight information region without submitting a flight plan, according to Greek reports.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a warning shot saying the move “constitutes a flagrant violation of international law”.
They added: “It is clear that there are forces in Turkey that do not want understanding and good neighbourly relations between the two countries.”
It is clear that there are forces in Turkey that do not want understanding and good neighbourly relations between the two countries
Two Turkish missile boats, which are taking part in a maritime exercise code-named Denizkurdu, also entered Greek territorial waters off the southeast Aegean island of Agathonisi.
The move could reignite a decades-old disagreement between the two NATO members over the sovereignty of a pair of uninhabited Aegean islands, which the EU and international community recognise as the sovereignty of Greece.
The small, rocky and uninhabited islands lay very close to mainland Turkey and cause inevitable land and territorial water disputes.
In 1996, the two countries, were on the brink of war over the Imia - Kardak in Turkish - islands, which was defused when NATO and US officials intervened.
The historical demarcation dispute escalated dramatically at the beginning of the year, when Greece’s Deputy Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy announced plans to make 28 tiny rocky Aegean Islands habitable.