Turkish overflights in the Aegean follow NAVTEX reserving area in East Med

A pair of Turkish F-16 fighter aircraft flew over some of Greece's easternmost islands on Thursday at a height of over 28,000 feet.

According to the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, the two Turkish fighter jets flew over the islets of Farmakonisi and then Panagia at 12:44 and 12:56 p.m. respectively on Thursday, without submitting a flight plan to the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR).

The overflights come a few hours after Turkey issued a navigational telex (NAVTEX) to announce that it is reserving an area in the Eastern Mediterranean for seismic research by survey ship Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa and two support vessels.

The sea area, which overlaps with part of the Cyprus's exclusive economic zone and a large part of the Greek continental shelf, is reserved from Thursday to January 5.