The Greek Ministry of Defense stated that the activation of Greek air defense in the Aegean Sea was … an exercise

The reaction of Greece to the mass violations of Turkish airspace and the activation of air defense in the Aegean Sea was very prompt, but everything ended in a very peculiar way.

It is reported that in the afternoon of April 28, by order of the Ministry of Defense and the leadership of the General Staff, air defense facilities were activated.

The Chief of the General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, ordered activate anti-aircraft systemslocated on the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea, in order to detect intruders from the air and capture them with target designators, the publication reports protothema with reference to military sources.

According to the sources of the publication, after the activation of the air defense, the violations magically stopped, and at the time of publication on Thursday, no violations of the Athens FIR had been recorded.

The activation of the air defense system followed 168 FIR violations by Turkish F-16 fighters and 41 overflights of small and large islands, mainly the Dodecanese island group, on Wednesday.

Three hours later, after information about the activation of air defense was leaked on the Greek Internet, the Ministry of National Defense stated that it was just … training: “Deployment of anti-aircraft systems located on the islands of the eastern Aegean, outside the camps and deploy in positions that are supposed to be activated in the event of an operation … was a training event … a readiness exercise, ”reports protothema with reference to military sources.

“After the high degree of readiness of the competent air defense departments and system operators was stated, the General Staff ordered the conduct of exercises that followed the mobilization,” the sources said.

Regardless of the military communications fiasco, the Greek government appears to be determined not to let Greek airspace violations go unanswered and has responded with a range of diplomatic and other measures.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis briefed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the matter and froze earlier confidence-building measures with Turkey.

The Foreign Ministry sent Ankara two notes of protest-demarche, and the General Staff canceled the invitation of the Turkish Air Force to participate in the NATO Tiger Encounter exercise.

PS My cat Pumka claims that someone called the General Staff and slapped the initiators of the air defense activation on the head, reminding them of the start of the tourist season. However, given the war in Ukraine, even a cat understands that the capture of combat aircraft by air defense radars can be interpreted as a threat of attack, but whatever one may say, Greece does not need this at all.

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