New Turkish violations of Greek airspace amid the chaos of terrorist attacks

New Turkish violations of Greek airspace have been reported by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff at a time when Turkey is again on the spotlight after the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey and Europe is grabbling with terror attacks in Germany and Switzerland.

Responding to the recent attacks the Greek Foreign Minister extended his condolences to all three countries targeted.

“First of all, I would like to express my support to the people of Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland. I would also like to express my support for the victims’ families and to condemn these attacks, while also expressing my abhorrence. In particular, I believe that the murder of the Russian Ambassador in Ankara has stunned every person who is involved in foreign policy.

“These attacks reflect the instability seen in the wider region, at the centre of which our country stands as a pole of stability. Indeed, the need for us to pursue stabilization policies – and first of all with such countries as the great and historically significant nation of Egypt – is confirmed. I believe that everybody now understands what we have been saying for the past two years; namely, that the stability of countries such as Egypt and the end of the wars in Syria and Iraq are prerequisites for overcoming today’s problems,” said the Nikos Kotzias, minister for foreign affairs.

Meanwhile, the Turkish incursions into Greek airspace that took place yesterday Tuesday, were all intercepted and identified by Greek Mirage-2000 jets that took off from Skyros, while in one case the interception evolved into a mock dog-fight (at 14:10 northwest of Samos).

According to reports from the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) a Turkish CN-235 military transport plane violated Greek airspace when it flew over the islet Panagia in the Oinousses complex at a height of just 100 feet (30 metres).

The transport plane entered the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) without submitting flight plans east of Chios at 10:59 in the morning, flew over Panagia at 100 feet and exited the Athens FIR one minute later, Greek authorities said.

In addition to the CN-235, a pair of armed Turkish aircraft, another two CN-235 aircraft and a Turkish helicopter entered the Athens FIR without submitting flight plans. There were five infringements of air-traffic rules that developed into seven violations of national airspace in the Aegean.