Erdogan underlines Turkey’s military might
New comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan served to stoke bilateral tensions Friday.
“If you don’t have enough military, political and economic might, you should know that nobody will take you seriously,” he said.
“And we saw this during the peace operation in Cyprus and the tension in the Aegean,” he said, referring to Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
Earlier Friday, Turkish fighter jets violated Greek airspace, flying over three islets near Kastellorizo in the southeastern Aegean.
According to an announcement from the National Defense General Staff, a pair of Turkish F-16s flew over the islets of Megisti and Ro at an altitude of 26,000 feet at 10.48 and 10.58 a.m., exiting the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) at 11.24 a.m. They returned just a few minutes later to fly over Strongyli at 22,000 feet, leaving the Athens FIR again at 11.33 a.m.
In all cases, the Turkish jets were intercepted by Greek aircraft in line with international rules of engagement.
