Greek, Turkish jets collide over Aegean sea

[coldwhitelight]

Greek, Turkish jets collide over Aegean sea

Pilots' conditions unknown; rival warplanes frequently intercept each other

ATHENS - A Greek and a Turkish fighter jet collided in midair above the southern Aegean island of Karpathos on Tuesday, a Greek defense ministry official said.

“The two jets collided above Karpathos. We don’t know what has happened to the pilots yet,” he told Reuters.

It was not clear what type of planes had crashed.

The Turkish defense ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Archrivals Greece and Turkey regularly criticize each other for causing mock dogfights between warplanes over the Aegean sea.

Greece’s defense ministry says it daily scrambles several fighter jets to intercept Turkish jets that it claims have invaded its airspace.

The two countries, who came close to war as recently as 1996, have considerably improved ties but have not resolved territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea and over the divided island of Cyprus.

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