First dogfights against the Turks in a year...

Three virtual dogfights between Greek and Turkish fighter jets occurred over the Aegean Sea on Wednesday, for the first time in the last twelve months.

Official figures are revealing: entanglements between Hellenic alerted fighter aircraft and Turkish fighter planes violating Greek airspace had not been recorded since September 2010.

Today, thrice did Turkish pilots not change course after being recognized by Greek pilots, thus causing dogfights. One of them took place west of Lesbos, while two more took place between Lesbos and Chios.

Since these are the first dogfights in over a year, officers serving in the Defense Ministry are monitoring the situation carefully to see if the Turkish Air Force is about to change its behavior.

A total of 12 Turkish military aircraft entered the Athens FIR without having previously submitted flight plans. Eight of them were armed, while besides the three virtual dogfights, three violations of Greek airspace by an equal number of Turkish aircraft formations were also recorded.