The Greek government delivered demarches to the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), condemning Turkey’s plans, following Ankara's release of the initial NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) on February 27, (for the reservation of a large portion of airspace over the central Aegean Sea in order to hold an unprecedented a 10-month military drill). Almost immediately Ankara issued a new NOTAM (No. 0900/15) revising the original notice (No 0889/15, issued on February 27) by excluding the island of Limnos from the area reserved for military use.
The initial notice, which constitutes a violation of international law and Greek sovereign rights,, provocatively designated a large section of the Aegean Sea – from the central Aegean island of Skyros northeast to Limnos – as an area where the Turkish armed forces could conduct exercises until the end of the year.
Original Story
Greece is protesting Turkey's move to reserve a large chunk of airspace over the Aegean Sea for military maneuvers until the end of the year, a Greek foreign ministry spokesman said at the weekend. Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras was quoted as saying that Ankara has unilaterally issued a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, reserving an extensive airspace over the Aegean Sea from March 2 to December 31, 2015, for military use.
The Greek government notes that the move intrudes into Greek airspace, interferes with traffic to two regional airports and affects two international traffic routes.
In the meantime, Greece's civil aviation authority issued a navigational warning stating the Turkish NOTAM is null and void.
The foreign ministry spokesman said that the Greek government plans to take the matter to NATO, the United Nations, the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO).
This is the second major Turkish provocation in the Aegean in the past two months. On the 31st of December 2014, Turkey issued two NAVTEX broadcasts, reserving large areas in the north and central Aegean for 2015.
The latest Turkish provocation came as a surprise, last Thursday the Greek government offered to begin talks about Trust Building Measures between the two neighboring countries. Turkey agreed to Greek request, making the latest provocation even more confusing.
Reference in Greek - defencenet, balkans.com
Posts
