Turkish fighter jets flew over two Greeks islands and violated Greek airspace on Wednesday, while on the ground, Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, was holding a meeting with Turkey’s Ambassador to Athens, Burak Ozugergin.
According to a statement by the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), a pair of Turkish F-16 fighter jets flew over the Makronisi and Anthropofagoi islets in the eastern Aegean. The overflight was at 11.29 am at an altitude of 20,500 feet. A minute later, a separate pair of F-16s flew over the same islets at 13,500 feet.
This came as Dendias met with Ozugergin to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments ahead of the Greek minister’s likely visit to Turkey on April 14, the state-run Athens-Macedonia news agency reported.
Diplomatic sources said Dendias reiterated Athens’ call that Ankara refrain from provocations that risk escalating tensions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Ankara on Tuesday accused Athens of violating the rights of its Muslim minority, which it calls “Turkish,” and of pursuing policies directed against Turkey, saying Greece should instead “abide by international law.”
Dendias said statements of this sort do not help consolidate a constructive climate between the two Aegean neighbors, the same sources said.
Source: Ekathimerini.
