With unthinkable threats and unbelievable claims, Ankara reacted to the Greek challenge to the flight of Turkish fighters at a distance of 2,5 miles from Alexandroupolis.
In a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry late on Friday night, it dismissed accusations that Turkish fighter jets had violated Greek airspace and blamed Greece for the new tension in Alexandroupolis.
"F-16 aircraft of the Greek Air Force violated our airspace west of Imbros (Gokceada) on May 16, 2022 and west of the Enez region on May 17, 2022. Our Air Force provided the necessary response to these provocative violations on 18 May 2022, in accordance with the rules of reciprocity and engagement.
" Greece is once again trying to create a perception against our country in international public opinion, using the tension it started with its own provocative actions.
" In this context, we totally reject the baseless allegations and accusations made against our country by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its statement dated May 20 and strongly condemn the Greek violations of our airspace.
" In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, Greece must stop its provocative actions in the Aegean and seriously engage in the process of Confidence Building Measures, both bilaterally and within the framework of NATO, where it has been avoiding participation for a year now."
The chronicle of the unprecedented Turkish challenge
According to reports, two Turkish fighter jets took off from Bandirma on 11:21 in the morning and from that moment proceeded with a barrage of violations that started from Rhodes and continued with Samos, Lemnos and reached as far as northwest of Samothrace, between the island and Alexandroupolis, specifically 2.5 nautical miles from the capital of Evros prefecture.
From there they turned and headed east again. During the violations they were spotted and intercepted by Greek fighters taking off from Lemnos.
Military sources quoted by OPEN spoke of a provocation - a message to Greece and the US, as it is known that there is an intention to make Alexandroupolis an American base. This is an unprecedented provocation which takes place against the backdrop of the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his speech to the US Congress.
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