The Greek pilots are playing on the nerves of their Turkish counterparts over the Aegean Sea, sending a clear signal that the playing field in the Aegean has changed.
Turkish President Erdogan may be escalating his bellicose rhetoric and increasing the possibility of a real military episode, but the Greek side continues to keep a calm and composed approach to the whole situation showing self-restraint while hoping for some form of de-escalation.
Until that happens, the situation over the Aegean remains tense, with violations by the Turkish Air force and dog fights between Greek and Turkish pilots a daily occurrence. But something seems to have changed dramatically in terms of the attitude of the Greek pilots and the way they deal with their opposition.
The sense that the balance of power is changing in favour of the Greek wings, with the acquisition of the new Rafale and the upgrading of the F16s to Viper creating new conditions, has clearly impacted the morale of the Turkish pilots, who are now facing a new “game” by their Greek ‘colleagues’ every day.
In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, the retired lieutenant general of the Turkish Air Force, Erdogan Karakus, complained that the Greek pilots are becoming more and more “provocative”.
As he says in an interview he gave to the newspaper, when the Greek aircraft lock their targets, they usually send a message saying to the Turkish pilots: “You are locked, you are on my target, I can fire my missile if I want…”.
This message has caused intense irritation among the Turkish pilots, who are forced to abandon the dogfight and return to their bases.
According to Karakus, the phenomenon has been more intense lately, which he attributes to the fact that Greek pilots train together with Israelis in Kalamata in the Peloponnese.
The latter seems to be troubling the Turks for one more reason. As Karakus says, it is possible that the Greeks are being trained by the Israelis on the tactics of the Six Day War, when the Israelis had destroyed the Egyptian planes on the ground within half an hour.
Such a possibility seems to be of great concern to the Turks, especially after the new situation created over the Aegean by the presence of the Rafale and their ability to hit targets at long distances.
The Turks fear that the Israelis are training the Greeks to make an immediate first strike and destroy their planes while they are on the ground and at their bases.
Here Karakus makes an observation that we should probably take seriously. That in case of military engagement (without clarifying whether this also concerns a hot episode), any Greek plane that crosses the 25th longitude, from the middle of the Aegean and beyond, will be considered a threat and will be shot down.
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