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The Greek state radio had reported that the Dendias plane had been flying over Mosul for twenty minutes, because the Turkish authorities had not granted it permission to fly through Turkish airspace back to Greece.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement, denying any deliberate move on its part to block the plane’s entry into Turkish airspace, and emphasizing that the plane did not submit the required flight plan.
“When the aforementioned aircraft arrived in our airspace, the (air) plan was urgently requested from the Iraqi authorities, and after receiving the plan, the flight was carried out safely,” said the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. from Turkey.
“Of course, a plane cannot fly without submitting a flight plan, and this is for the safety of the Greek foreign minister in the first place, and our Greek counterparts have been informed of this matter,” the statement added.
Greek-Turkish relations have experienced great tension due to the conflict over the division of maritime borders and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean since August, as the two countries conducted parallel air and sea maneuvers in strategic waters between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete.
On August 10 last, Turkey for the first time sent the seismic reconnaissance ship accompanied by warships to the waters between Greece and Cyprus and expanded its work.
The two countries agreed to hold exploratory talks last month, following diplomatic efforts led by Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, to defuse the crisis, but the recent announcement dashed these hopes.
The talks have been stalled since 2016 and were expected to resume in Istanbul, but no date has been set.
