Athena-Sana
Greece condemned today the harassment of Turkish fighters against a helicopter in which both the Greek Minister of Defense and the Armed Forces Commander rode over a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.
Greek Defense Ministry sources said that the accident occurred when Defense Minister Nikos Panayotopoulos and Army Chief of Staff General Constantinos Florus were traveling in a helicopter that took off from the small island of Enosis, after they visited forward bases near the border with Turkey.
In a statement, the Greek Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the harassment, demanding that Turkey "respect the rules in force like other countries in the region instead of violating them systematically."
The Greek news agency "Anna" said that two Turkish planes circled over the island at an altitude of 1000 meters after the helicopter took off and then flew over a second Greek island at an altitude of only 1700 feet.
A military source said that Greek planes intercepted Turkish planes that violated the country's airspace prior to the accident.