Over 150 Turkish violations of Greek air space in the last two days

Italian air force F-16 / F-16.net

Greek Reporter — Greek defense sources said that on Tuesday  there were 81 Turkish violations of Greek air space and six mock dogfights when a large military exercise of the Hellenic forces was under way in the Aegean, despite the fact that Athens and Ankara have an agreement to forgo military activity when either is conducting an armed forces exercise.

On Wednesday as the exercise continued, 32 Turkish fighter aircraft violated Greek air space 66 times.

According to a press release by the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 18 of those aircraft were armed.

GEETHA says that the violations were carried out in the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean.

It also says that four CN-235 naval co-operation/electronic warfare aircraft, and two helicopters joined the violation spree.

The Greek fighters were ordered to intercept and on three occasions they had to engage in a dogfight with the Turkish fighters.

Greek defense sources warn that Turkish provocations are on the rise and they express concern of a possible accident over the Aegean.

Sources at the Greek Defense Ministry indicated that a sharp increase in Turkish activity over the Aegean, particularly close to the Dodecanese islands, was likely a reaction to Greece’s annual military and civil protection exercise, dubbed Parmenion,