Turkish violations surge in 2019

In an indication of the rising tensions over the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean this year, there has been a significant increase in the number of violations of Greece's national airspace by Turkish fighter jets since the beginning of 2019 and as a result mock dogfights with Greek jets have more than doubled, according to data released on Wednesday by the Hellenic Air Force General Staff (GEA).

More specifically, there were 267 engagements between Turkish and Greek jets in the first nine months of the year, compared to 128 in 2018 and 176 in 2017.

During the previous period, 2010-16, these engagements were significantly less frequent. Moreover, so far this year, Turkish jets have conducted 50 overflights over Greek territory, against 47 in 2018 and 39 in 2017.

Overall, airspace violations by Turkish jets have climbed to 3,520 and it is expected that they...