Mid-air tension over Aegean reduced
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The "spring atmosphere" that started up over the Aegean following Turkish top commander General Yasar Buyukanit's last week visit to his counterpart in Athens is continuing. Following last week's official meeting between General Buyukanit and Greek Commanding General Panayotis Hinofotis, Turkish F-16s flying over the Aegean are doing so unarmed, for the first time in years.
Greek air force fighter pilots are also flying their missions unarmed. Both sides hope that some of the mid-air dogfights between Turkish and Greek air force planes witnessed over previous years can be avoided by reducing tension this way on both sides.
Turkish air force planes have flown armed and unarmed over the Aegean for many years; though for years they did fly unarmed, the re-arming of the Aegean flights took place following a Greek air force decision to arm its flights. Both Turkey and Greece are reflecting an increased desire to better political and military relations with this latest mutual decision to reduce mid-air Aegean tension. In addition to the recent visit between the two top commanding officers of both countries' militaries, there will also reportedly be visits taking place between lower ranked officers from both countries, as well as possible "personnel exchanges" in coming months.