Drones could make Turkey-Greece clashes less risky, but more frequent

Tensions over Aegean airspace continue to grow as Turkish and Greek aircraft have been involved in several confrontations this month. One unique encounter, however, was particularly interesting.

As Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar on April 6 was inspecting his country's Aegean army, two Greek F-16s began pursuing a Turkish-made ANKA-B drone that had just entered service with the Turkish navy and was testing its reconnaissance and surveillance flights over the Aegean Sea. As the drone, which was launched from Turkey's Dalaman Naval Air Base, was operating at an altitude of 6,600 meters (21,600 feet) off the Greek island of Rhodes, it was approached by the F-16s from Kastelli Air Base on Crete. According to a report in Greece's Ekathimerini newspaper, the planes flew alongside the drone for a while before handing over the intercept mission to two other F-16s.

Both Ankara and Athens were satisfied with the outcome. Ankara was pleased for having compelled the Greek air force to consume thousands of dollars' worth of fuel to pursue the ANKA-B — manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. of Ankara — on its first flight over the Aegean Sea, panicking the Greek side. Greece was pleased with its successful intercept of the drone. The first incident of this nature between Greece and Turkey in their enduring power struggle over Aegean Sea airspace has the potential to radically alter the character of the decades-old struggle.

Greece claims 10 nautical miles of national airspace over the sea from its coasts; Turkey rejects that claim. For Turkey, the basic aspects of this dispute are Greece's persistent abuses of its flight information region responsibility, and the unique Greek claim of 10 miles of airspace, when the width of its territorial waters is 6 miles. Ankara thinks Greece’s claim to 10 miles of airspace violates international law and that four of those miles are actually international airspace.