“We want peace, we are not looking for a fight or for trouble in the Aegean, but there won’t be an aircraft which will not be intercepted,” Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told Antenna Television.
All the airspace violations occurred in the central and southern Aegean above tiny Greek islets, disputed by Turkey.
The already strained relations between the two NATO nations escalated quickly after the Greek Supreme Court last Thursday, blocked the extradition of Turkish military officers whom Ankara accused of involvement in the botched coup attempt in July 2016.
The top court’s ruling is final and cannot be challenged even by the country’s Justice Ministry. The officers applied for political asylum in Greece, but their petitions are still being considered.
Turkey responded angrily to the decision, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accusing Greece of “protecting and hosting coup plotters” and threatening to cancel the Turkey-EU migrant deal.
“We have a readmission agreement between us and Greece, with the European Union. We are going to take necessary steps, including the cancellation of this readmission agreement,” he said.
On Monday Turkish military commanders decided to sail on a Turkish Navy vessel past the Islet of Imia. That demarche caused a tense standoff with Greek gunboats.
“Greece is trying to take advantage of Imia and similar rocky areas. Greece will not be permitted to open new areas here,” Turkey’s deputy PM Veysi Kaynak defiantly said on Wednesday.
In an apparent tit-for-tat, Kammenos flew in a helicopter over the islets and dropped a wreath into the troubled waters to commemorate the Greek victims of the 1996 standoff. The official account states that three Greek officers died in a helicopter crash, but some experts allege the vehicle was actually brought down by Turkish fire.
