Turkey Targets Greek Pilot

According to a front page story in Turkish daily Hurriyet, Mehmet Emin Keles, attorney for the family of the dead pilot would contact Athens prosecutors to seek the punishment of responsible parties and the HAF pilot (whose name is given in the paper), who, he claims, shot down the Turkish fighter.

The groundless allegation based on an article written years ago by a now defunct magazine comes in the wake of stated efforts by Turkey to retrieve the wreckage of the aircraft from the seabed and the remains of the pilot.

The other airman in the plane, who successfully bailed out and was rescued by Greek forces and given medical attention on Chios, had stated at that time that he believed the crash was to due to a mechanical malfunction that led to an internal explosion.

Since 1974, 71 Greek airmen have fallen in the line of duty, many in the undeclared war over the Aegean.