Greece and Turkey are locked in a dispute over rival air exercises in the central Aegean, after each issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM), the official alert that warns pilots of restricted areas and military activity, covering the same stretch of airspace.

Turkey is seeking to reserve five large areas of the central Aegean until 27 October. Greece has responded by scheduling exercises in two zones that overlap the northern part of those areas. Ankara has demanded that Athens amend its notice and, after being refused, has declared it invalid.

At the heart of the row is who may issue such notices inside the Athens flight information region (FIR). The FIR is the airspace in which Greece provides air traffic services, and it includes large stretches of international airspace over the Aegean.

Five Turkish zones along the 25th meridian

The dispute began with the Turkish NOTAM A3788/26, which covers military exercises from 25 September to 27 October 2026. The five areas run along the 25th meridian through the middle of the Aegean, forming a long chain of restricted zones in the heart of the archipelago. The notice also covers six air routes, and Ankara describes the planned activity as including search and rescue and environmental protection missions.

In places, the zones touch or enter Greece’s national airspace. Greece claims 10 nautical miles of airspace, although its territorial waters extend only six nautical miles, and Turkey does not recognise the wider limit. The incursions add a further challenge to Greek jurisdiction.

Athens issued a counter-NOTAM rejecting the Turkish notice and stating that Ankara has no authority to issue it inside the Athens FIR. The Greek position concerns who is responsible for issuing air notices for the area, while the entry of Turkish zones into national airspace raises a separate question of sovereignty.

Greek exercises in the overlapping areas

Alongside that rejection, Greece issued NOTAM A3595/26, announcing combined air and naval exercises from 12 to 20 October. The key detail is the siting of the two Greek areas, which overlap the northern part of the zones announced by Turkey.

The overlap means both sides have scheduled military activity in shared parts of the Aegean for the same period. By going ahead, Athens is keeping its own training programme and, in effect, refusing to adjust to Turkey’s unilateral reservations.

The Greek notice does not in itself cancel the Turkish exercises, but it creates a direct clash over the use of those areas.

Ankara demands changes to Greek exercises

Turkey returned with NOTAM A4388/26, saying it had asked the Greek authorities to amend the boundaries of their areas because they coincide with Turkish military exercise zones in international airspace. After Athens refused, Ankara described the Greek NOTAM as “null and void” and said its own notice remained in force.

Athens rejects the Turkish challenge as unilateral. Turkey’s reference to international airspace does not settle who is entitled to issue NOTAMs inside the Athens FIR. Responsibility for air traffic information and safety is a separate matter from sovereignty over the airspace, and that distinction lies at the core of the dispute.

Athens FIR jurisdiction back in focus

The exchange reflects Turkey’s attempt to impose its own military planning inside the Athens FIR and to demand matching changes to Greek exercises. Athens is responding through its own notices and by keeping the Armed Forces’ schedule in the overlapping zones.

The notices come amid continuing incidents in the area. Greek authorities reported further Turkish aircraft and drone violations of Greek airspace and the Athens FIR on 22 September.

The period from 12 to 20 October is of particular interest, as that is when the announced activities coincide. Greece is watching developments closely, and attention now turns to how the plans are carried out and what moves follow in those areas of the Aegean.