File photo: two Turkish Air Force F-16s in flight, April 2022. Photo: US Navy / Strike Fighter Squadron 81, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Greek Jets Intercept Armed Turkish F-16s Over the Aegean in Mock Dogfight

13 Nov 2026, 08:07 by Stella Mazonakis · Greek City Times

Greek fighter jets intercepted two armed Turkish F-16s over the north-eastern Aegean on Thursday 12 November, with one mock dogfight recorded during the interception, according to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA).

A Turkish CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft operating in the same area carried out seven violations of Greek national airspace, the General Staff said. All seven violations were attributed to the CN-235, not to the fighters.

What the General Staff recorded

GEETHA’s daily report for 12 November listed three Turkish aircraft in total: one formation of two F-16s, both armed, and a single CN-235.

Aircraft: 3 (one formation of 2 F-16s and 1 CN-235)
Armed: 2 F-16s
Infringements of air traffic rules in the Athens FIR: 2 (one by the F-16 pair, one by the CN-235)
Violations of Greek national airspace: 7 (all by the CN-235)
Mock dogfights: 1
Area: north-eastern Aegean

The F-16s entered the Athens Flight Information Region without filing a flight plan, which Greece records as an infringement of air traffic rules. The General Staff said all the Turkish aircraft were identified and intercepted in line with international rules and standard practice.

Infringements and violations are not the same

Greece reports two separate categories. An infringement of air traffic rules means a military aircraft has entered the Athens FIR, the area where Greek air traffic control manages flights, without a flight plan. A violation means an aircraft has entered Greek national airspace, which Athens sets at 10 nautical miles from its coast.

That difference matters on Thursday’s figures: the armed F-16s were logged for one FIR infringement, while the seven airspace violations came from the slower patrol aircraft. In Greek military terms, an “engagement” or mock dogfight means Greek and Turkish fighters manoeuvred against each other during the interception. No weapons were fired, and no damage or injuries were reported.

A tense week in the Aegean

The flights came on the same day the French research vessel Abeille Marengo moved into international waters over the Greek continental shelf to survey the route of the Great Sea Interconnector, the planned Greece–Cyprus electricity cable. According to To Vima, a Turkish frigate radioed the vessel that day to restate Ankara’s position on the continental shelf, and the Greek frigate Limnos replied. The cable surveys are under way south of Karpathos, a different area from where Thursday’s flights took place.

Thursday’s incident follows two encounters between Greek jets and armed Turkish F-16s east of Rhodes in late October. Earlier figures showed Turkish airspace violations over the Aegean rose sharply in the first nine months of 2026, and Turkish drones logged 15 violations in a single day earlier this month.

Sources: Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) daily report, 12 November 2026, as published by Proto Thema (https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/1909932/epta-paraviaseis-kai-mia-eikoniki-aeromahia-pano-apo-to-aigaio-anahaitistikan-oplismena-tourkika-mahitika/), OnAlert (https://www.onalert.gr/ellinotourkika/emploki-me-oplismena-tourkika-f-16-sto-aigaio-7-paraviaseis-apo-cn-235/833222/), To Vima (https://www.tovima.gr/2026/11/12/society/aigaio-epta-tourkikes-paraviaseis-kai-mia-emploki-me-oplismena-f-16/) and CNN Greece (https://www.cnn.gr/ellada/story/561764/synagermos-sto-fir-athinon-eisvoli-dyo-oplismenon-f-16-kai-baraz-paraviaseon-apo-tous-toyrkous).

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