Greece submits strong demarche to Turkey over airspace violation near Alexandroupolis

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The Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the “unprecedented violation of national sovereignty by two Turkish fighter jets, which illegally entered our national airspace and approached the city of Alexandroupolis at a distance of only 2.5 nautical miles,” in a statement released on Friday.

Instructed by Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias, the ministry’s Secretary General Themistoklis Demiris presented an immediate and strongly worded demarche to the Turkish Ambassador in Athens. As part of the same directive, Greece’s allies and partners will also be informed of the incident, including the European Union, NATO and the United Nations.

This action is an absolutely clear escalation of Turkey’s provocative behaviour, noted the Greek ministry, adding that it is also part of Turkey’s effort to promote its neo-Ottoman revisionism, while in the process violating all the fundamental rules of International Law.

Furthermore, the ministry underlined, this action undermines NATO’s cohesion and its immediate priorities, while posing a clear threat to the EU during a critical time, as the port of Alexandroupolis is a key hub for the transfer of military forces to support Greece’s allies.

44 national airspace violations by Turkey registered on Friday

Four pairs of Turkish F-16s, one Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and two Turkish navy transport aircraft CN-235 entered Athens FIR on Friday without having submitted a flight plan, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDG) reported on Friday.

A total of 9 infringements of the Athens Flight Information Region developed into 44 violations of national airspace: 29 by the CN-235s, 3 by the fighter jets and 12 by the UAV, across the entire Greek archipelago, while 2 Turkish aircraft were carrying weapons.

All Turkish aircraft were intercepted by Greek fighter jets, per international protocols, except for one case in which the interception turned into a dogfight, noted HNDG.

Source: ANA – MPA

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