Turkish jets fly over Greek islet of Ro as foreign ministries hold discussion
As officials from the foreign ministries of Greece and Turkey met for political consultations in Ankara on Friday, Turkish jets were reported to have violated Greek airspace over the islet of Ro.
According to reports, a pair of Turkish F-16s conducted two unauthorized flights over the southeastern Aegean island at an altitude of 3,000 and 6,000 feet respectively, shortly before noon on Friday.
The airspace violation comes as Greek and Turkish foreign ministry delegations were meeting in Ankara for a new round of political consultations, amid a spike in tensions between the two countries over sovereignty rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The delegations are headed by Ambassador Themistoklis Demiris, secretary general of Greece's Foreign Ministry, and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.
It also comes after an official with the Turkish Foreign Ministry posted a comment on Twitter challenging Greek sovereignty.
“It is ridiculous to believe that a small island of 10km2 which is 2km [from Turkey] and 570km away [from Greece] can create a 40,000km2 maritime zone in the Mediterranean,” the acting director general at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Cagatay Erciyes, said in a translated comment on Twitter.
Attached to his post was a map of the southeastern Aegean with an inset indicating the position of the Greek island of Kastellorizo.
