Giorgos Baltadoros

An oceanographic vessel of the Greek Center for Marine Research, using a robotic submersible, retrieved on Tuesday the flight recorder of the Mirage 2000-5 which crashed into the sea in the central Aegean, near Skyros, on April 12, killing the pilot Captain Giorgos Baltadoros.

Amid rising tensions between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean, Wednesday's decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call snap elections for June 24 intensified concerns for bilateral ties against a backdrop of growing nationalist fervor in Turkey, Ekathimerini reports.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos Wednesday reacted to a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry disputing Greece's territorial sovereignty over the eastern Aegean Imia islets saying that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which forged modern Greece and Turkey's borders, "is binding for us and NATO and Turkey."

One of three young men who took the initiative to place Greek flags on five islets around Fournoi in the southeast Aegean said that the move was intended to pay tribute to Hellenic Air Force Captain Giorgos Baltadoros, who was killed last week when his jet went down off Skyros.

Soldiers fire a salute at the funeral of Hellenic Air Force Captain Giorgos Baltadoros in his native village of Morfovouni in Karditsa, northern Greece. The 34-year-old father of two was killed when his Mirage jet went down near the island of Skyros on Thursday while he was flying in conditions of poor visibility.

Hellenic Navy divers on Saturday located at a depth of 800 meters north of Skyros signals from the flight recorder of the Mirage 2000-5 which plunged into the sea in the central Aegean on Thursday, killing the pilot Captain Giorgos Baltadoros.

Every Greek is saddened and shocked by the death of Captain Giorgos Baltadoros off the island of Skyros Thursday and we are grateful to him.

Greece is in awe of the silent patriotism and professionalism of the young pilot who died Thursday in the line of duty after his fighter jet crashed into the Aegean Sea when he was returning from a mission.

The pilot of the single-seat Mirage 2000-5 was doing his job, earning a very modest salary, with just few hours of training and limited resources.

The Greek parliament announced on Friday it will support financially the family of 34-year-old Greek Air Force pilot Giorgos Baltadoros who died when his fighter jet plunged into the sea in the central Aegean on Thursday.

Greece's air force and the country at large are mourning the death of a pilot Thursday whose single-seat Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet crashed into the sea north of the central Aegean island of Skyros after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish jets.

The Hellenic Armed forces declared three days of national mourning.