The Turkish Air Force violated Greek national airspace on 69 occasions on Wednesday, 5 of which resulted in dog fights over the Aegean Sea with the Hellenic Air Force.

The aggression is seen as a response by Turkey to the historic agreement between Greece and Italy on the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Ionian Sea, which fully confirms Greece’s positions regarding the legitimacy under international law that islands also have a continental shelf and maritime zones.

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The Turkish provocations were carried out over the Northeast, Central and Southeast Aegean.

As Turkish Defence Minister Akar was provocatively stating Greece would not want to come into a military conflict with Turkey, 14 Turkish F-16 fighters and a spy aircraft CN 235 flew over the Greek Archipelago.

The 37 violations were committed by the CN-235 spy plane, while the escalation in Turkish aggression revealed Ankara’s unease about Greece’s diplomatic moves (with Italy and the forthcoming talks with Egypt).

The Turkish frustration is also apparent by the fact that ten Turkish planes were armed during their violations of Greek airspace. Usually, there are between two to four Turkish aircraft armed in similar aerial provocations.