Dozens of violations of Greek national airspace by Turkey were registered on Friday by the Athens Flight Information Region.

And while almost all Turkish aircraft were intercepted by Greek fighter jets as per international protocol, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff stated that one interception turned into a dogfight.

The breakdown of infringements reportedly consisted of: 29 by CN-235s, 3 by fighter jets and 12 by Unarmed Aerial Vehicles across the Greek archipelago, while 2 Turkish aircraft were carrying weapons.

The Greek Foreign ministry strongly condemned in particular the incursion of the two fighter jets within 2.5 nautical miles of the northeastern city of Alexandroupoli on Friday, calling the incident an “unprecedented violation of national sovereignty.”

But Ankara responded with a claim that violations were conducted “based on reciprocity and in accordance with” the Turkish Air Force’s rules of engagement alleging that Greece had already violated the neighbouring country’s airspace twice this week.

“F-16 aircraft belonging to the Greek Air Force violated Turkish airspace to the west of Gokceada (Imvros) on 16 May 2022 and to the west of (the Eastern Thrace city of) Enez on 17 May 2022. The Turkish Air Force reacted to these provocative violations on 18 May 2022, based on reciprocity and in accordance with their rules of engagement,” Ambassador Tanju Bilgic, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman blamed Greece for...

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