Turkish F-16 fighter jets scrambled to shadow aircraft carrying Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias and a French military delegation as they flew toward Cyprus, after a control tower in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus transmitted radio demands that the planes alter their flight paths — demands the crews ignored as the aircraft remained on internationally validated courses.
The Ercan Control Tower, operated by the internationally unrecognized administration in occupied northern Cyprus, made repeated broadcasts claiming the aircraft were violating its airspace.
Two Turkish F-16s from a base in occupied territory then trailed the ministerial aircraft until both delegations landed safely in government-controlled Cyprus. The Hellenic Air Force monitored the intercept throughout.
Mr. Dendias and his French counterparts were travelling to Nicosia for an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in its defence configuration, hosted under the Cypriot EU Council Presidency.
The summit agenda includes the bloc's independent combat readiness, its contribution to NATO's European pillar and rapid crisis response coordination.
The intercept marks a further escalation in Turkey's ongoing challenges to Greek and EU airspace and navigation in the eastern Mediterranean — a pattern that has included the Blue Homeland maritime legislation controversy, the Lefkada drone incident and repeated Aegean airspace violations reported in this wire series.
Greece and Turkey are both NATO members. The interception of aircraft carrying EU defence ministers en route to a European security summit is likely to be raised at the meeting itself.