Turkey has said Greece used a Russian-made missile system to harass its F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace in what it termed a “hostile action”.
The radar of a Greek S-300 missile system based on the island of Crete locked on to the Turkish jets on August 23, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday, citing defence ministry sources.
The F-16s were at an altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) to the west of Greece’s Rhodes island when the Russian-made S-300’s target-tracking radar locked on, the report added. The Turkish planes completed their mission and returned to their bases “despite the hostile environment”.
That was “incompatible with the spirit of [NATO] alliance” and amounted to “hostile acts” under the NATO rules of engagement, Turkish defence ministry sources told the AFP news agency.
“Despite this hostile action, [Turkish] jets completed their planned missions and returned to their base safely.”
The allegation is the latest claim from Turkey that its neighbour and fellow NATO member Greece has been targeting its aircraft above the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
