Turkish planes taking part in a NATO mission over the Aegean Sea were once again harassed by Greek F-16 jets, Defense Ministry sources said Thursday.
The sources requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media said the two Turkish F-16s were harassed on Wednesday.
As soon as the Greek jets locked their radar on the Turkish warplanes, the Turkish side responded with full force.
This is the second time this week that Greek jets locked their radar on Turkish planes on NATO missions.
On Tuesday, a similar incident took place over the Eastern Mediterranean. The issue was conveyed to NATO authorities by Türkiye and the Greek military attache was summoned to the Defense Ministry.
The sources said that "Greece continues to persistently target NATO missions to increase tensions," and the latest harassment incident proves Greece had planned the move.
The sources added that this behavior is absolutely incompatible with the spirit of the NATO alliance and puts flight safety at significant risk.
Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, air space, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
In another move that is likely to increase tensions between the two neighbors, a Greek minister accused Ankara of “making use” of migrants that try to cross into Europe.
“During the month of August alone so far, 25,000 irregular migrants have tried to illegally enter through the Greek-Turkish borders,” Takis Theodorikakos, Greece's minister for public order, said in an interview with private Antenna TV. “It's a very large number.”
Theodorikakos didn't expand on how Greece stopped the entries or provide figures for previous months. Turkish officials and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Greece of illegally returning asylum-seekers who make it into Greek territory without allowing them to make their asylum bids. Athens has denied that.
Pushbacks are contrary to international refugee protection agreements, which dictate that people should not be expelled or returned to a country where their life and safety might be in danger due to their race, religion, nationality, or membership in a social or political group.
Theodorikakos spoke a day after the government decided to extend a fence along the land border with Türkiye to deal with increased immigration flows.
