Aegean Conflict

Main article: Aegean dispute

Aegean Conflict
Part of Greece-Turkey relations
File:Greece Turkey Locator.png Map of the Aegean sea
Date 1974-Present Location Aegean Sea Result Ongoing Imia/Kardak islets under defacto Greek control. Crisis's in 1986, 1987, and 1996
Belligerents
Republic of Greece	Republic of Turkey
Commanders and leaders
Kyriakos Mitsotakis	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Casualties and losses
Aircraft lost 1 Mirage F1 1 F-16 Casulties 3 killed(2 from lost aircraft) 1 Wounded	Aircraft lost 2 F-102 3 F-16s 1 F-4 Casualties 6+ Killed(3 from lost aircraft) 10+ Wounded

Origins

The first origins of the conflict stem from the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. During the invasion intense dof fights took place over the Aegean. One fatal one being on 22 July 1974, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a pair of Greek F-5Αs intercepted a pair of Turkish F-102 near Agios Efstratios. The aircraft engaged in a dogfight, during which one of the Turkish pilots fired a Falcon missile against one of the F-5As piloted by Thomas Skampardonis. Skampardonis managed to evade the missile and then the other Greek pilot Ioannis Dinopoulos, who up to that point was undetected by the Turks, fired AIM-9B missiles. The first AIM-9 missed its target but the second shot down one of the F-102s. The pilot of the remaining F-102 became disoriented and fled westwards. When he realized his mistake, he turned east towards the Turkish coast but ran out of fuel. This forced him to ditch his aircraft and crash, suffering fatal injuries. Turkey denies the incident and insist that 2 Greek F-5s were shot down but no further proof or backing was provided.

Further Conflicts

Tensions only began to rise throughout the 80s and 90s over the dispute. As Greece expanded its territorial waters to 6 nautical miles it soon threatened to expand up t0 12 miles. Turkey considered this null and void and the Turkish parliament passed a casus belli(reason for war) on June 8th, 1995 against Greece despite international condemnation. This dispute also includes air space where Greece claimed 10 nautical miles along with foreign international backing but Turkey does not recognize this. This leads to numerous airspace violations where hundreds or even thousands happen per year. These lead to Greek fighter jets and Turkish jets intercepting each other and having a number of mock dogfights and some cases have led to casualties on both sides.

1986 Evros River Incident

A firefight, known as the Evros River incident occurred on December 19, 1986 between Greece and Turkey at the [[evros river] that is the natural border between the two. The incident began at 11:15 a.m, when a 3-man Greek Army patrol, guarding the border against the passage of Iranian refugees, met with a Turkish Armed Forces patrol along the Evros river border. The Greek party met with the Turkish, and Greek soldier, Zissis Karagogos, met with one of the Turkish soldiers who offered to trade cigarettes. The Greek soldier set down his rifle and helmet and as he moved closer, he was fatally shot by a Turkish soldier lying in wait. This sparked a fire-fight between both parties which saw dozens of more soldiers come and join the fight that lasted over 2 hours that killed two Turkish soldiers, Lt. Hakan Turkyilmaz and Pvt. Mehmet Kalyon, and wounded a Greek soldier, Dimitris Karayannis. Although local sources estimate 5+ Turkish soldiers were killed and a dozen wounded. It is not known why the Greek soldier was fired upon but multiple theories came up such as due to the conflict in the Aegean.

1987 Aegean Crisis

The 1987 Aegean crisis also known as the Aegean crisis was due to the fact large amounts of oil were found off the Greek island of Thasos and Greece was planning to drill it. This area is generally considered as Greek waters but Turkey has disputed this despite no international backing. The Turkish survey ship Piri Reis, and later the RV MTA Sismik 1, was sent to the area to conduct research for oil and later drilling. Greece in retaliation nationalized the oil and other resources around the island and sent its own war ships. The current Greek prime minister at the time Andreas Papandreou gave the orders to sink the ship if it was found in the waters claimed by Greece. The Crisis was solved after a phone call between Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou and Turkish prime minister Turgut Özal decided that neither side would go into the disputed waters. Later on Greece allowed its own companies along with foreign companies to drill in the waters.

1996 Imia/Kardak Crisis

The Imia/Kardak islets were the site of a major crisis between Greece and Turkey who were on the brink of full scale war. The dispute over the islets themselves started when on 26 December 1995, the Turkish cargo ship Figen Akat accidentally ran aground on the east islet and had to be salvaged. A Greek tugboat responded to the distress call. The Turkish captain initially refused the assistance offered, maintaining that he was within Turkish territorial waters. He ultimately accepted being towed to the Turkish port of Güllük by the Greek tugboat. The Greek captain filled in the necessary papers for the salvage fee but the Turkish captain objected, arguing that the freighter had been in Turkish waters. At first it was thought there wouldn't be much conflict over this but both Greece and Turkey after claimed full ownership to the Islets. On 27 December, the Turkish Foreign Ministry notified the Greek authorities that it believed there was a sovereignty issue, and on 29 December it declared the islets Turkish territory. On January 9, Athens rejected the claim, citing the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the Convention between Italy and Turkey (1932) and the Treaty of Paris (1947). Turkey ignored this claimed and referenced the specific islets are not named directly in the treaty therefore it is sovereign Turkish land.

On the 25th of January 4 Greeks from the neighboring island of Kalymnos including its mayor, took a small boat to the islets and planted a Greek flag there which deteriorated relations quickly. In response on 27 January some Turkish journalists from Hurriyet news landed on the islet with a helicopter, lowered the Greek flag and hoisted a Turkish flag, the whole event being broadcast live on Turkish television. This led to the Hellenic Navy sending warships and Underwater Demolition Command commandos taking down the Turkish flag and putting up the Greek flag again. Turkey in retaliation sent its own warships around the islets and a tense stand off began. In the night of 28 January, Greek special forces landed secretly on the east islet undetected. On the 30th of January, soon after Turkish SAT Commandos landed on the west islet undetected at first. Later Greek forces were alerted by their presence after a Greek helicopter took off at 5:30 am from the Greek frigate Navarino for reconnaissance. During the mission it crashed over the islets (some speculating due to Turkish fire) but most sources indicate it was an accident as it crashed kilometers away. Three Greek officers on the helicopter were killed: Christodoulos Karathanasis, Panagiotis Vlahakos, and Ektoras Gialopsos..

The tenions ended after U.S. mediation occurred between both sides and they agreed to move away their flags and warships from the islets as well as SOF units from both islets. Legal status today rules in favor of Greece by the international community and by treaty and de facto controls the islets despite Turkeys claims otherwise.

Ariel Dogfights/Incidents

Main article: List of aircraft shootdowns

On numerous occasions there has been unfortunate incidents between the two sides during air combat which alone almost caused crisis's of their own.

• On 22 July 1974, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a pair of Greek F-5Αs intercepted a pair of Turkish F-102 near Agios Efstratios. The aircraft engaged in a dogfight, during which one of the Turkish pilots fired a Falcon missile against one of the F-5As piloted by Thomas Skampardonis. Skampardonis managed to evade the missile and then the other Greek pilot Ioannis Dinopoulos, who up to that point was undetected by the Turks, fired AIM-9B missiles. The first AIM-9 missed its target but the second shot down one of the F-102s. The pilot of the remaining F-102 became disoriented and fled westwards. When he realized his mistake, he turned east towards the Turkish coast but ran out of fuel. This forced him to ditch his aircraft and crash, suffering fatal injuries.
• On 18 June 1992, a Greek Mirage F1CG crashed near the island of Agios Efstratios in the Northern Aegean, during a low-altitude dogfight with two Turkish F-16s. Greek pilot Nikolaos Sialmas was killed in the crash. This was the first lost by combat from the Hellenic Air force since world war two.
• Οn 8 February 1995, a Turkish F-16C crashed on the sea after being intercepted by a Greek Mirage F1CG. The Turkish pilot Mustafa Yildirim bailed out and was rescued by a Greek helicopter. After brief hospitalization in Rhodes, the pilot was handed over to the Turkish side.
• A few months after the 1995 Turkish F-16 crash, on 27 December 1995, a pair of Greek F-16Cs intercept a pair of Turkish F-4E. During the dogfight that followed, one of the Turkish aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed into the sea, killing its pilot Altug Karaburun. The co-pilot Ogur Kilar managed to bail out safely and was rescued by a Greek ΑΒ-205 helicopter. He was returned to Turkey after receiving first aid treatment in Lesbos.
• On 8 October 1996 – 7 months after the escalation of the dispute with Turkey over the Imia/Kardak islands, a Greek Mirage 2000 fired an R.550 Magic II missile and shot down a Turkish F-16D over the Aegean Sea. The Turkish pilot died, while the co-pilot ejected and was rescued by Greek forces. In August 2012, after the downing of a RF-4E on the Syrian Coast, Turkish Defence Minister İsmet Yılmaz confirmed that the Turkish F-16D was shot down by a Greek Mirage 2000 with an R.550 Magic II in 1996 after reportedly violating Greek airspace near Chios island. Greece denies that the F-16 was shot down. Athens says that Turkish pilot reported a control failure. It also claims that the jet violated Greece's airspace because one of the Turkish pilots was rescued in the Greek flight information region. Both Mirage 2000 pilots reported that the F-16 caught fire and they saw one parachute. Turkey has demanded compensation for the killed pilot and wants the Greek pilot to be charged for murder.
• On 23 May 2006, a Greek F-16 and a Turkish F-16 collided approximately 35 nautical miles south off the island of Rhodes, near the island of Karpathos during a Turkish reconnaissance flight involving two F-16Cs and a RF-4. Greek pilot Kostas Iliakis was killed, whereas the Turkish pilot Halil İbrahim Özdemir bailed out and was rescued by a cargo ship. This is the latest incident that had a casualty and since then none have been reported.

References

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