In a provocative front-page Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak accuses Greece of “escalating the tension in the Aegean” with the new state-of-the-art Rafale aircraft while leaving hints that the planes might be piloted by French pilots.

With the headline: “Second-hand provocation: Athens, which received Rafale from France, escalates tensions” the newspaper tries to blame Greece for the escalating tensions, although Turkey has been systematically provoking lately with overflights above Greek Islands.

“Annoyed by Turkey’s global activity, including the Russo-Ukrainian war, and hostile to refugees, Athens has once again turned to provocations. The cause of Athens’ audacity, which in 15 days violated Turkish airspace dozens of times, was the purchase from France of 18 fighter jets (12 of which were used)” states the provocative article, continuing: “Greece, which entered an arms race against Turkey and invested the money of the Greek people in defence spending, fell into whims with the Rafale in the Aegean. Greece, which bought Rafale fighter jets from France, increased violations in the Aegean. Greece uses Rafale aircraft for a longer range “Locking of these violations.”

The article points out the “warnings” of Ankara to Athens, for the “supposed alleged continued “violations” of the Turkish national airspace by Greek aircraft.

The article raises the question of how it is possible that the Greek pilots have adapted so quickly to the new Rafale aircraft, hinting that maybe their pilots are French pilots.