Greek Aircrafts Harass Turkish Helicopter During Sealion-2002 Operation

KEMALREIS FRIGATE - 14.05.2002 - Greek aircraft harassed a Turkish helicopter during the Sealion-2002 Operation which continues in the international waters and airspace of Aegean Sea on Tuesday.
Admiral Yener Karahanoglu, the south sea commander said that the first part of the maneuver was completed successfully.
He said that the aim of the maneuver is to ensure the co-working of civilian and military units in search and rescue operations and to develop their training.
Karahanoglu said that Cougar helicopter was harassed by four Greek F-16s in the beginning of the maneuver and four planes took off from Balikesir. The Greek F-16s left the region when the Turkish planes took off, he said.
''We expected such an harassment, yet the Greek planes should not do this during a maneuver which aims to rescue people even due to a scenario. Greeks were informed about the issue, this is a humanitarian activity which should not be compared with other activities. When the Turkish planes took off, the harassment ended,'' Karahanoglu said, adding that they also invited Greek observers to the maneuver, but they didn't take part.
Karahanoglu said that 13 observers from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Albania, Italy, Congo, Israel, Algeria and Jordan also watched the maneuver and they found the operation successful.