The radar of a Greek S-300 missile system based on the island of Crete jammed Turkish fighter jets, according to state media.
Turkey has said Greece used a Russian-made missile system to target its F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace in what it called a “hostile action”.
The radar of a Greek S-300 missile system based on the island of Crete was jammed by Turkish aircraft on August 23, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported Sunday, citing defense ministry sources.
The F-16s were at an altitude of 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) west of the Greek island of Rhodes when the Russian-made S-300’s target-tracking radar jammed, the report added . The Turkish planes completed their mission and returned to their bases “despite the hostile environment”.
This was “incompatible with the spirit of [NATO] alliance” and amounted to “hostile acts” under NATO’s rules of engagement, Turkish defense ministry sources told the AFP news agency.
“Despite this hostile action, [Turkish] the planes completed their planned missions and returned to their base safely.”
The accusation is Turkey’s latest claim that its neighbor and fellow NATO member Greece has been targeting its planes over the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.
Radar jams are considered an act of hostility under NATO rules of engagement.
Greek Defense Ministry sources dismissed the accusations. “Greece’s S-300 missile system has never blocked Turkish F-16 jets,” the sources said, according to state broadcaster Ert.
High voltages
Last week, Turkey summoned the Greek military attaché and filed a complaint with NATO after Greek F-16s allegedly strafed Turkish F-16s on a mission for the alliance.
Anadolu reported that Greek pilots put Turkey’s plane under a radar jam over the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey “gave the necessary response” and forced the planes to leave the area, Anadolu said, without elaborating.
Greece rejected the Turkish version of events. Its defense ministry said five Turkish jets appeared unannounced to escort a flight of US B-52 bombers – which was not supposed to have a fighter escort – through an area subject to flight control Greek
He said four Greek fighters were scrambled and ejected from the Turkish planes, adding that Athens informed NATO and US authorities about the incident.
Although both members of NATO, Turkey and Greece have been at loggerheads for decades over a range of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over airspace there. Disputes have brought them to the brink of war three times in the past half century.
Tensions flared in 2020 over exploratory drilling rights in areas of the Mediterranean Sea, where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic zones, leading to a naval clash.
Turkey has accused Greece of violating international agreements by militarizing islands in the Aegean Sea. Athens says it must defend the islands, many of which are close to Turkey’s coast, against a possible attack by Turkey’s large fleet of military landing craft.
Turkey says Greece is stationing troops on the Aegean islands in violation of peace treaties signed after the First and Second World Wars.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut off dialogue with Greece after alleging that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis lobbied against US arms sales to his country.