Greece complains to Turkey over rejection of Greek PM aircraft's flight plan to Iran

Greece's government formally complained to Turkey for rejecting the flight plan of the aircraft that was carrying Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and cabinet ministers to Iran earlier in February, the Greek Premier's office announced.

The e-mailed statement verifies reports in local media that on Feb. 6 Ankara prevented the aircraft from landing on the Greek island of Rhodes for refueling and then continuing its trip to Teheran flying over Turkish airspace.

Turkish authorities argued that the plane was considered a military aircraft since it had military pilots, therefore could not land on Rhodes and then fly over Turkey, since "the island is a demilitarized zone." Athens does not recognize the claim.

Ankara suggested the plane land for refueling in Turkey instead and then continue the journey with Ankara's overflight permission, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos elaborated speaking to Greek Alpha TV.

The incident sparked fierce reactions in Athens from opposition parties and media who saw "a clear questioning of Greece's sovereignty rights in the Aegean Sea."

The Greek Prime Minister's office said Greece's government "strongly complained via the diplomatic path that such claims are absolutely unacceptable according to the international law" and chose to not further raise tensions.

Instead of submitting a new flight plan to Ankara that would circumvent Rhodes, the PM's plane eventually flew to Egypt for refueling and then continued over Cyprus, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to reach Iran, the statement added.

The incident occurred as the two historic archrivals have agreed to cooperate under NATO's umbrella in the Aegean Sea to manage the refugee flows from Turkey to Europe. Endit