Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached a tiny Greek island in the eastern Aegean, in a dangerous escalation of tension between the regional rivals.

The island of Ro, which lies just a few miles off the Turkish coast, became the latest flashpoint between the neighbours after months of growing friction and nationalist rhetoric.

The incident, in which Greek soldiers reportedly fired tracer rounds towards the Turkish helicopter, happened late on Monday night.

After the shots were fired, the helicopter, which had buzzed the island at a low altitude, left the area.

"The order to fire the warning shots to force the helicopter to move off came in the context of stepped up surveillance and reaction measures adopted given the increase in tensions with Turkey," a Greek military source told AFP.

The source said the helicopter, apparently operated by the Turkish coastguard, flew along the outer limit of the air control identification zone between the two countries, both members of Nato.

The helicopter was flying with its navigation lights switched off in a deliberately provocative act, the Greek government said on Tuesday. </s> In the latest of a series of Turkish provocations against Greece, which highlights the ongoing tensions between the two countries, a Turkish helicopter flew at a low altitude over the Greek island of Ro on the evening of Easter Monday.

According to initial information, the helicopter performed manoeuvres at a low altitude over the island around 11:30 pm on Monday. Experts say the helicopter belonged to the Turkish coast guard and are surprised at its late night flight. It is unclear how long the aircraft remained in the Greek airspace.

According to reliable sources, the Greek Radar System had detected the entry of the Turkish helicopter into Greek national airspace.

Military sources told protothema.gr report that the Greek soldiers on guard at an outpost fired tracer bullets to interrupt the aircraft’s flight. The island of Ro is located close to the Turkish coastline and is near Kastelorizo in the southeast Mediterranean Sea. </s> "There were warning shots. This is an absolutely legitimate reaction on our part … These were the actions, which should have been taken under the existing modus operandi. The helicopter was flying about one mile away from the base at a low altitude. It was a Turkish Coast Guard helicopter," the source sad.

Ro, located near the Turkish coast, is host to a small military base.

READ MORE: No Alternative Ways to Peaceful Coexistence With Turkey — Greek Foreign Minister

The recent escalation between the two nations happened after a Turkish patrol boat rammed a Greek coast guard vessel off the island of Imia in the Aegean Sea in February. The strained relations can also be attributed to Turkey keeping two Greek border security guards, who had mistakenly entered Turkey amid bad weather conditions, in custody since March despite protests by Athens. </s> ATHENS – Reports have emerged that Greek troops fired warning tracer rounds at a Turkish helicopter that flew over over the islet of Ro, near the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo, 1.25 miles off the Turkish coast in latest escalation of tension between the countries.

The helicopter was flying without its lights on at a low altitude at 11:30 p.m. on April 9, Kathimerini said, but the initial reports didn’t mention it was fired on

Defense Ministry sources told the paper that the rules of engagement were implemented and that Defense Minister Panos Kammenos was in constant contact with the head of the General Army Command (GES) and the Chief of Hellenic Armed Forces General Staff (GEETHA) when it happened and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was briefed.

Greek defense officials reportedly dismissed the incident as part of what it believes is designed to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity domestically and not to provoke a shooting conflict.

While Tsipras’ office said the incident was minor – even with shots fired – it added that a “night flight with the lights out is part of Turkey’s tactic of provocation from a safe distance which, however, carries the risk of an accident.”

There was no immediate comment from Erdogan although reports in the Turkish daily Hurriyet cited sources from the office of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim who denied it occurred.

In an earlier Tweet, the main opposition New Democracy’s shadow defense minister Vassilis Kikilias criticized the ministry for failing to provide details about the incident in which the shooting at the helicopter was not mentioned.

Meanwhile, Turkish fighter jets are continuing their regular violations of Greek airspace, following incursions on April 8 by two planes, breaking a customary Easter moratorium against such incidents that had been previously observed.

That happened when the Turkish F-16’s flew over Oinousses, a cluster of small islands in the northeastern Aegean, coming after a visit there by Kammenos to a military outpost.

Five new violations of Greek airspace and six infringements of the Athens Flight Information Region by Turkish aircraft were recorded by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) on April 10, officials said.

Α Turkish CN-235 transport aircraft and a helicopter entered Greek airspace five times and two Turkish F-16 jets flew over the northeastern and southeastern Aegean before being chased away by Greek fighter jets who often engage their rivals in mock dogfights. </s> Soldiers fired tracer rounds towards the helicopter as it approached the island of Ro late on Monday night. After the shots – described as warning shots - had been fired, the chopper left the area. The Greek government accused Turkey of a provocative act after the aircraft approached with its navigation lights switched off. Tensions between Athens and Ankara have been escalating for months.

The current escalation began when the Greek Supreme Court blocked the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who Ankara claims were involved in the country’s coup. Greece blocked the extradition saying they would not have a fair trial under President Erdogan. Last summer the captain of a Turkish freight ship said the Greek coast guard had opened fire on his vessel after he refused an order to dock at a port in the Aegean Sea. And last month two Greek soldiers were captured by Turkish military after they crossed the border.

Turkey accuses them of being spies, whereas Greece says the men simply got lost in fog and crossed the border by accident. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has demanded the release of the soldiers. He said: "In the past, we returned Turkish soldiers who crossed a few metres into Greece whilst on patrol. I expect the Turkish president to do the same.” He added that the soldiers should not be "pawns to power games and blackmail."

Greece’s defence minister Panos Kammenos says he has ordered the deployment of 7,000 additional military personnel to islands in the eastern Aegean Sea and the land border in Greece. He said: "If they have the guts, let them dare to challenge one inch of our territory. "The Greeks, united, will crush them. “What is needed is the vigilance of the entire Greek people in facing an opponent, an enemy that continues to provoke us.” Turkey and Greece came to the brink of war in 1996 over the ownership of uninhabited islets known as Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish. </s> Turkish overflights in the Aegean continued on Wednesday with two F-4 fighter jets entering Athens’s Flight Information Region (FIR), without submitting a flight plan, according to Greek military authorities.

 

 The aircraft entered Athens’s FIR at 2.50 p.m., flying over Panagia and Oinousses in the eastern Aegean at an altitude of 12,500 feet, authorities said.

On Monday, Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached a small Greek island in the eastern Aegean, in a dangerous escalation of tension between the two Aegean neighbors. </s> A Greek air force plane has crashed into the eastern Aegean Sea after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish aircraft, killing its pilot.

Officials said the Mirage 2000-5 crashed Thursday north of the island of Skyros but gave information about the possible cause of the crash.

The Hellenic Air Force said in a statement that authorities lost contact with the jet some 9 miles northeast of the island at 12.15 p.m.

Patrolling has intensified in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Greece and Turkey and near-daily mock dogfights in disputed airspace.

Greek navy ships and army helicopters are searching for the missing pilot.

Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached a tiny Greek island of Ro in the eastern Aegean on Monday.

The Turkish coastguard helicopteer, flew along the outer limit of the air control identification zone between the two countries, both members of Nato.

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have been rising in recent weeks.

A Turkish court rejected requests for two Greek soldiers arrested in Turkey to be released from custody.

The two were arrested last week for allegedly entering a Turkish military zone and on suspicion of attempted espionage.

Greece said the two soldiers, a lieutenant and a sergeant, accidentally strayed into Turkey due to bad weather during a patrol of the Greek-Turkish border.

In February Greek coast guard vessel was rammed by a Turkish patrol boat off disputed islets in the east Aegean, and Turkish warships prevented an exploratory gas rig from drilling near Cyprus.

Turkey meanwhile, is angered by court decisions in Greece rejecting the extradition of eight Turkish servicemen wanted by Ankara for their alleged involvement in a failed military coup in 2016. </s> Only a day after the serious incident over the Isle of Ro when Greek soldiers fired warning shots in the air at a Turkish helicopter, Turkish pro-government newspaper “Yeni Safak” used a provocative main headline reading “If a Greek ship was hit and sunk”. Analysing a hypothetical war scenario, the author of the article entitled “If a Greek ship was hit and sunk”, examined the prospect of a possible false flag in the Aegean Sea in order for the Erdogan government to be blamed. The writer says that as tensions in the Aegean Sea rise between the two countries so does the possibility of an “accident”. He explores the prospect of the Turkish navy sinking a Greek missile boat or ship, which would result in all EU countries and the US forming a common alliance against Turkey. </s> Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Monday Turkish fighter jets harassed the helicopter he was traveling on during a visit to a remote Greek island to celebrate independence day. Tsipras said he was “welcomed” by Turkish fighter jets violating Greek airspace during his arrival on the small eastern Aegean island of Agathonissi, AP reports. The move forced the helicopter pilot to carry out low maneuvers until Greek fighter jets arrived to deflect the Turkish aircraft, according to Tsipras. Athens often complains Turkish fighter jets violate its airspace, sometimes flying directly over Greek islands.
Greek soldiers fire warning shots at a Turkish helicopter over the Aegean Sea after it approaches the island of Ro.