Greek aircraft “tried to prevent” a Turkish-NATO mission in the Aegean, and Turkish warplanes gave a “necessary response,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Dec. 17, Trend reports citing Daily News.
“Combat and support aircraft of our Air Force and the AWACS aircraft commissioned by NATO performed a NATO-coordinated NEXUS ACE training mission in the international airspace of the Aegean Sea for mutual training purposes,” the statement said.
Greek jets “tried to prevent” NATO’s NEXUS ACE mission, but the exercise was “successfully completed” after Turkish aircraft responded, the ministry said.
The two countries are often at odds over their overlapping claims of air space and territorial waters in the Aegean and Mediterranean.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had initiated a deconfliction mechanism for Türkiye and Greece at NATO, but the latter suspended the meetings.