The Turkish Air Force refused to participate in the NATO exercise Tiger Meet in Greece. The reason is that Athens has made changes to the approved scenario for the upcoming exercises.
NATO exercises will be held in western Greece at the Araxos airbase from May 9 to 22. It had been previously reported that Turkish F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters would take part in the maneuvers.
The host country traditionally prepares the technical agreement on the conduct of the exercise. "It has been established that Greece, which prepared this year's technical regulation, added to the document under consideration an approach aimed against Turkey and at differences between the two countries. The Air Force Command immediately took action against these deliberate additions and demanded that the technical regulation be changed, contrary to international law. Turkey's insistent demands were not accepted by Greece", the Sabah newspaper writes.
In Turkey, Greece's actions are considered unacceptable and contrary to international law. "Greece's position strikes at the essence of the exercises aimed at strengthening friendship and cooperation within NATO. Moreover, there are attempts to infringe on the rights and interests of Turkey", security sources in Ankara said on Saturday, Anadolu writes.
The official decision of the Turkish Air Force's non-participation in the exercises was sent to the Greek authorities.
