The Turkish air force has provided the "necessary response" to Greek jets attempting to block a NATO flight mission in the Aegean, the Defense Ministry announced early Tuesday.
Greek F-16 jets that took off from five different air bases once again harassed Türkiye while it was carrying out a NATO exercise in international airspace over the Aegean by locking their radars on Turkish jets on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.
Türkiye was issued an air tasking order and its NATO allies were warned 24 hours ahead of the mission, it added.
The planned NATO tactical exercise dubbed Nexus Ace involved an E3-A AWACS jet and 14 F-16 jets, an airborne warning and control aircraft, a KC-135 tanker aircraft and a CASA search and rescue aircraft belonging to the Turkish Air Force Command.
"Despite Greek jets’ attempts to block the NATO flight, our fleet saw the mission to completion," Ankara said.
Turkish F-16s deployed from Dalaman and Akhisar airbases in the south were sent out as a preventative measure, providing the "necessary response" to the Greek intrusion, the ministry noted.
Monday’s altercation marks the second time this week Greece has tried to intercept NATO’s tactical-level exercise with Türkiye in the Aegean.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late Sunday renewed his warning to Greece against engaging in provocations in the waters dividing their countries. "Don't mess with us. We have no quarrel with you in the Aegean," Erdoğan said.
The two neighbors have long-standing sea and air boundary disputes that intensified with moves to explore potential undersea natural gas reserves.
Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
Relations deteriorated after President Recept Tayyip Erdoğan said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis "no longer exists" for him, when the Greek leader lobbied to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye during a visit to the United States, despite previously agreeing with Erdoğan "to not include third countries in our dispute." In May, Erdoğan cut ties with Mitsotakis and declared all other channels of communication between the countries closed.
The most recent incidents to have spurred tensions include two Greek coast guard boats opening fire on a cargo ship in international waters, continued pushbacks by Greek elements recorded by Turkish UAVs and the previous harassment of Turkish fighter jets on a NATO mission by Greece’s Russian-made S-300s.
Ankara accuses Athens of illegally militarizing Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean and questions Greece’s sovereignty over them. There is also a dispute over the exploitation of mineral resources in the Aegean.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots.
Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor of resolving all outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and negotiation. Türkiye has also criticized the European Union’s stance on the Eastern Mediterranean conflict, calling on the bloc to adopt a fair attitude regarding the dispute and abandon its preferential treatment of Greece under the pretext of EU solidarity.