Imia: Unabashed Turkish provocations and threats

The first took place at 7:59 am when a Turkish AB-412 military helicopter flew at height of 30 meters above Imia, and then left the Athens FIR.

A few hours later at 9:41, a second overflight occurred when a Turkish military Augusta Bell helicopter flew 260 meters above Imia and then left FIR Athens.

Yesterday the Turkish Foreign Ministry claimed that the Greek military exercise in Rhodes violates international law regarding the joint exercise of naval commandos from Greece and Egypt

A "warning" against Greece was levelled on Thursday by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which accuses the country of "violating international law" due to the military exercise taking place in the Rhodes area.

As Anadolu State Agency reported, the Turkish Foreign Ministry's announcement states that it "learned about the joint exercise of Greece and Egypt from 30 October to 4 November on the Greek island of Rhodes through information received by Turkish military sources."

The announcement also claims that the Paris Treaty (1947) "prohibits the conduct of military exercises in Rhodes, which was ceded to Greece by Italy after the Second World War, provided the island is demilitarized."

"Thus, this military exercise in Rhodes violates international law," the announcement says, while claiming that Turkey's foreign ministry has "warned the Greek Embassy in Ankara about the importance of avoiding unilateral actions that could create tension in the Aegean ".

"In this context, we underline that we are expecting Greece to avoid such hostile moves that violate international law and call on third countries not to participate in such violations of Greece," the announcement concludes.

It must be noted that Imia was the object of a military crisis and subsequent dispute over sovereignty between Greece and Turkey in 1996.