Six Turkish drones cross into Greek airspace over Aegean

Six Turkish military drones flew into Greek-claimed airspace over the Aegean Sea on Oct. 10, Greece’s Hellenic National Defense General Staff said, the latest in a run of near-daily incidents this month.

The Greek military recorded eight infringements of air traffic rules inside the Athens Flight Information Region and five violations of Greek national airspace by the drones. The flights took place over the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean. Greek forces detected, identified and intercepted the drones in line with international rules and standard procedure, the general staff said. It did not say which Turkish drone types were involved, how long they stayed in the area or what aircraft Greece used to intercept them.

An infringement means a Turkish military aircraft entered the Athens Flight Information Region, the area where Greece manages air traffic, without filing a flight plan with Greek controllers. A violation means the aircraft crossed into what Greece considers its national airspace, which it sets at 10 nautical miles (about 18.5 km) from its coastline. Turkey recognizes only 6 nautical miles, matching the width of Greek territorial waters, and does not accept that its military flights need to file plans with Athens. Ankara regards the flights as taking place in international airspace.

The Oct. 10 incidents followed several similar days. On Oct. 6, the general staff reported seven Turkish aircraft over the Aegean, including two armed F-16 fighters, a CN-235 maritime patrol plane and four drones, which together logged 10 infringements and 15 violations. On Oct. 8, five Turkish drones and an ATR-72 maritime patrol aircraft recorded five violations and seven infringements.

The flights came days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Athens, where he described Greece as a key strategic partner of the United States and NATO ally. Greece and Turkey are both NATO members but have long disputed airspace limits, maritime boundaries and the demilitarization of Greek islands near the Turkish coast. Mock dogfights between Greek and Turkish fighters were common for years before the two governments improved ties in 2023, and in recent years Turkish drones have made up a growing share of the recorded incidents.