The veiled displeasure and not-so-concealed unease emanating out of Ankara this week with US president-elect Donald Trump’s choices for Secretary of State and director of national intelligence on Thursday coincided with four airspace violations in the Aegean by Turkish aircraft.
Violations of Greek airspace in the Aegean and infringements of Athens FIR regulations had all but vanished over the recent period, one of the welcome effects of a “thaw” in relations between Greece and Turkey that, in turn, assumed characteristics of a full-blown reproachment.
Nevertheless, on Thursday for Turkish military aircraft, a CN-235 turboprop surveillance plane, a UAV and two helicopters, violated Greek airspace on four occasions. The same aircraft infringed on Athens FIR regulations on five occasions.
Greek military sources said the Turkish craft were not armed, nor was any engagement reported when Greek planes approached to identify the former.
The incident, however, raised eyebrows in Athens, and possibly beyond, given the time that such activity resumed, although no Turkish fighter planes were involved.
The selection of Sen. Marco Rubio to head the State Department and Tulsi Gabbard as the new Trump administration’s intelligence chief was not welcome news for the Erdogan government in Turkey, as both have expressed criticism of Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan and Ankara’s foreign and defense policy.
