Turkish air force prevents next Greek jets attepmting to hinder NATO flight mission

The Turkish air force has provided the “necessary response” to Greek jets attempting to block a NATO flight mission in the Aegean, the Defense Ministry announced early on December 20.

Greek F-16 jets that took off from five different air bases once again harassed Türkiye while it was carrying out a NATO exercise in international airspace over the Aegean by locking their radars on Turkish jets on December 19, the ministry said in a statement, per Daily Sabah.

Türkiye was issued an air tasking order and its NATO allies were warned 24 hours ahead of the mission, it added.

The planned NATO tactical exercise dubbed Nexus Ace involved an E3-A AWACS jet and 14 F-16 jets, an airborne warning and control aircraft, a KC-135 tanker aircraft and a CASA search and rescue aircraft belonging to the Turkish Air Force Command.

“Despite Greek jets’ attempts to block the NATO flight, our fleet saw the mission to completion,” Ankara said.

Turkish F-16s deployed from Dalaman and Akhisar airbases in the south were sent out as a preventative measure, providing the “necessary response” to the Greek intrusion, the ministry noted.

The altercation on December 19 marks the second time this week Greece has tried to intercept NATO’s tactical-level exercise with Türkiye in the Aegean.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on December 20 renewed his warning to Greece against engaging in provocations in the waters dividing their countries.

"Don't mess with us. We have no quarrel with you in the Aegean,” Erdogan said.

The two neighbours have long-standing sea and air boundary disputes that intensified with moves to explore potential undersea natural gas reserves.

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, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.