Greek airspace was violated 10 times on Wednesday by Turkish F-16 fighter jets.
As Greece welcomed the arrival of the new state-of-the-art Rafale fighter jets, Ankara sent ten planes (nine F-16 fighter jets and one ATR-72 anti-submarine plane) to the north- east and south-east of the Aegean Sea.
They committed six violations of the Athens Flight Information Region.
In one case, there was a collision with a Greek alert plane.
It should be noted that three Turkish F-16s flew armed in Greek airspace.
According to the Greek military, the Turkish planes were identified and intercepted in accordance with international rules and in accordance with established practice.
READ MORE: TURKEY: Democratic Left Party calls for war with Greece over militarization of Aegean islands.
Meanwhile, the first six Rafale fighter jets that Greece has purchased landed at Tanagra Air Base on Wednesday after taking off at 09:25 local time (10:25 Greek time) from Istria in France and completed an impressive flight over- above the Acropolis less than two hours later.
In total, Greece will acquire 24 Rafale fighter jets, at a total cost of 3.3 billion euros.
The additional contract for the purchase of six additional new Rafale combat aircraft should be signed in the coming weeks.
Two of the six Rafales arriving in Greece today are two-seaters. These will be used for the training of young pilots, while the other four are single-seaters.
The training of eight Greek pilots and 50 aircraft technicians has already been completed, which took place in France.
Rafale fighters have a range of 2,800 miles and a large fuel capacity, two engines, are equipped with a modern and powerful electronically scanned array radar and are capable of carrying two Exocet missiles.
READ MORE: The first photos of Greek Rafale fighter jets flying over the Acropolis.
In his speech, the Prime Minister notably declared: “The gusts of wind are ready to protect the Greek sky”.
Mitsotakis said, “To acquire the Rafale, we don’t need anyone’s permission.
“I will not tire of repeating that with the same determination to close the door to any threat, we keep the dialogue open.”
Mitsotakis went on to say, “This government’s belief was and is that economic and social development must be framed by the protection of security and the elevation of national dignity.
“For Greece, any reinforcement of its defense is a projection of peace.”
READ MORE: Turkish DM Akar: Greece’s alliance with France will cause rifts in NATO.
