Turkish fighter jets committed 126 violations over Greek airspace on Wednesday the worst day yet for some time. The Turkish airforce flew over more than 13 islands in the Aegean Sea.

The egregious actions occurred the day Greece summoned the Turkish Ambassador to protest against the violations, while the invitation to Turkey to participate in the NATO exercise was cancelled.
Among the violations were the 30 overflights recorded by Turkish aircraft of twelve Greek islands.

It is worth noting that a pair of Turkish F-16 aircraft flew at 19.37 over the island of Ro at 25,000 feet, at 19.38 flew over Megisti at 25,000 feet, and at 19.40 again over Ro at 24,000 feet.

The same pair flew at 19:58 in Kalolimnos and Imia, at 20:05 again over Kalolimnos, at 20:08 over Lipsi, and at 20.09 over Arkios at 23,000 feet.

On Wednesday morning, Turkish F-16s even flew over Samos, Arki (three times), Lipsi (five overflights), Agathonisi, Fourni, Oinousses, and Farmakonisi.

Earlier in the day, and amid this climate of tension created by the Turkish side, the Secretary-General of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Themistoklis Demiris, summoned the Ambassador of Turkey to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a formal protest was submitted.

The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlined that these actions are a violation of Greek sovereignty, constitute an unacceptable challenge, and are contrary to fundamental principles of International Law.

Ankara’s choice to carry out daily massive violations of Greek airspace and overflights over inhabited Greek islands raises concerns in the leadership of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defence. This prompted the Ministry of Defence to decide to cancel the invitation to Turkey to participate in the “NATO Tiger Meet” exercise.