October 13, 1997 (by Lieven Dewitte) -
Turkish F-16s have begun flying over Cyprus armed with live ammunition for the first time in 10 months in retaliation for Greek participation in Greek Cypriot military maneuvers on Cyprus. The Turkish F-16 jets would thus have broken the agreement made with Washington last year not to fly armed over the island.
Turkey has been sending its F-16 jets to the area on monitoring and observation missions since Sunday to demonstrate that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is not alone. Athens says Turkish jets have massively violated its airspace in recent days and harassed military plane taking Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos to Cyprus. Turkey denies the charges.
