Another round of tension was reported on Wednesday in the air over a specific region in the eastern Aegean that nearly caused a military flare-up between Greece and Turkey — almost exactly 21 years ago.
According to Greek military sources, a pair of Turkish F-16 warplanes flew over the twin rock islets of Imia immediately after the Greek defence minister flew in a helicopter just off one of the isle, in order to drop a memorial wreath.
DM Panos Kammenos was paying tribute to three Hellenic Navy aviators who died when their frigate-based helicopter crashed into sea during a night-time patrol on Jan. 31, 1996.
The exact courses of the two Turkish planes were released in detail, while in two instances they flew over the small isle of Kalolimnos.
As in previous such instances, Hellenic Air Force planes were scrambled in order to intercept the violating warplanes.
Turkey, a EU candidate country that, however, is still not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), disputes Greek sovereignty over the two islets — dubbing them “Kardak” in 1996 — and the surrounding sea region. In response to Athens’ position that it take its case to the International Court or another adjudication body, Ankara’s leitmotif has been to propose “negotiations” over what it claims are “grey areas” in the Aegean.
