ANKARA (AA) - Turkish General Staff said on Monday that Turkish Armed Forces refrained from practices that may cause tension during its naval and air training activities performed in the Aegean and expected the same approach from the neighboring countries.
     General Staff issued a statement and recalled news reports appeared recently in Greek media claiming that Turkish planes violated Greek air space in the Aegean, and that a news report appeared in Greek media on November 18th, 2004 that Turkish planes dropped flares during dog fighting.
     The statement said ''flare'' was a self defense system used against Infra-Red-IR missiles and noted that, ''the aim of its use is to divert the missile from its target creating a heat more than exhaust gas.''
     The statement said it was ''natural'' that pilots use flares to defend themselves in case they get the warning that missile could be launched during daily training flights and maneuvers under conditions of peace time.
     The statement said, ''an F-16 plane belonging to Turkish Armed Forces, during a training flight in the Aegean on November 18th, 2004, dropped three flares in international airspace to protect itself from a Greek plane which locked its missile radar on it in south of Limnos Island. The flares do not cause a danger unless there is a plane just behind our plane and thus unless there is a plane harassing our plane.''
     The statement said, ''Turkish plane's harassing and provoking Greek plane is out of question. On the contrary, the missile loaded Greek F-16 plane harassed Turkish F-16 plane by locking its radar on it.''
     ''Under the engagement rules, locking radar to another plane more than five seconds, is considered as an hostile act, and evaluated as harassment. In this case, it is clearly seen that Greek plane harassed Turkish plane.''
     The statement said, ''missile and flare systems are not so close to each other in F-16 planes and commanded by the pilots with different switches. Thus, it is out of question that missile was mistakenly launched instead of flare as it was stated in Greek media.''
     Noting that Turkish airforces performed its flights in accordance with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) rules for Turkey's indispensable and inalienable rights and interests stemming from international law in the Aegean, the General Staff recalled that Turkey cancelled its exercises in the Aegean during the Olympic games to support the security of Athens Olympics and took additional measures for search and rescue, and decreased the flights in the Aegean to the minimum level to show good will and friendship.
     ''On the opposite of news stories dispatched in the Greek press claiming that Turks increased flights in the Aegean, Turkey has in fact decreased its flights in the Aegean 65 percent from August, September and October 2002 and 2003 to the same period in 2004. When the flights of both countries are compared, it is seen that Greece has performed approximately 75 percent of its total flights in the Aegean while Turkey has performed only 5 percent of its flights in the Aegean.''
     ''Besides, when Turkish airforces' flights over the Aegean in October is concerned, it is seen that the Turkish airforce had 256 sorties in 2003 and 112 sorties in 2004. This indicates a 57 percent decrease from 2002 and 2003 to 2004.''
     Underlining that Turkey has the right to freely use the international airspace and territorial waters together with other countries, the statement said, ''usage of international waters in the Aegean is not subject to permission of any country. And Turkey does not have any intention not to use this right.''
     The statement added, ''in spite of Turkey's good will, leaking biased and provoking stories about our flights in the Aegean to the media is perceived as an inappropriate attitude.''
     ''Turkey attaches great importance to its relations with Greece and wishes the Aegean to be a sea of friendship and solidarity. That's why, Turkish Armed Forces shows utmost care to refrain from practices that can create tension during its sea and air training activities in the Aegean, and it expects the same attitude from our neighboring country.
     But, we think that conveying regular training activities of Turkish Armed Forces that have been performed in conformity with the international law with exaggerated negative statements and announcements to the media and public opinion can harm the atmosphere of confidence that has been tried to be created in the Aegean.''
     (AY-AÖ)
2004-11-22