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| Europe | |
| Greece blocks US air manoeuvres over Aegean Sea | |
| 2006-05-28 | |
The Greeks asked for the manoeuvres to stop because the US planes "broke aviation rules" by not informing the local authorities about the exercises in advance, an official from the ministry, who did not wish to be named, told AFP. The decision came after a Greek and a Turkish fighter jet collided on Tuesday near the island of Karpathos, about 75 kilometres (50 miles) east of Crete, killing the Greek pilot. Neither Athens nor Ankara accepted responsibility for the accident, with the Greeks accusing the Turkish fighter of flying into their airspace without warning and the Turks denying any such infringement. The American planes took off from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, anchored at the Souda Bay US naval base on the Greek island, on Friday afternoon. "When aircraft from the aircraft carrier were flying north of Crete yesterday (Friday) afternoon, they were in contact with Greek civil aviation," Elizabeth Corwin, spokeswoman for the US embassy in Athens, told AFP. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 OP: I can vouch for at least one occasion we launched F-4's and A-6's while at anchor. Tomcats could do so also, but had to carry minimum fuel and hit the tanker as soon as they were airborne. I do not know if the F-18s can do it, but I suspect the Es and Fs can. |
| Posted by: USN Ret. 2006-05-29 00:00 |
| #14 I've got some in the freezer, Frank. I'll drop by the O Club in a moment, and if you pick up a nice baguette, figure about an hour for it to be defrosted and ready. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-28 20:51 |
| #13 damn...when's that in the O Club? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-28 20:36 |
| #12 Mmmmm. Circassian chicken. I have a lovely recipe for that, from a Turkish girlfriend: Boil one chicken with a little salt in just enough water to cover. While the chicken is boiling, in a food processor finely chop 500 g (1 lb.) walnut meats just until it starts to become oily, then add and chop up 250g (8 oz) stale white bread and 5-6 cloves garlic. Dump mixture into a bowl, then stir in enough chicken broth (probably almost all of it) to make a smooth paste. Let chicken cool enough to handle, then tear meat into small pieces -- cutting up the meat makes for the wrong texture -- and stir into bread/nut mixture. Eat with slices of crusty baguette. Note: this recipe makes precisely twice as much as needed for a party dip, for which it's pretty topped with a sprinkle of paprika and a drizzle of good olive oil. Freeze the rest until the next time, up to six months. Enjoy! (Souvlakia is much more complicated.) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-28 20:27 |
| #11 Indeed. But who is the Hippias on which today's Persians depend? And will a Miltiades arise to deal them another Marathon? |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-28 18:29 |
| #10 Wouldn't be ther first time they called in the Persians on their countrymen. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-28 15:53 |
| #9 Greece has been relaying Ahmadinajad's comments to the US ... perhaps they are a little more than a conduit for Iran. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-28 15:43 |
| #8 Besides, how could two aircraft with operational radar run into each other? Maybe it was Circassian vs Souvlaki chicken? "Something smells to high heaven here." Feta? Ouzo? Sorry, OP - I couldn't resist such superbly pointed questions, LOL. :) |
| Posted by: Slolulet Sletch7958 2006-05-28 15:09 |
| #7 This article has a bunch of BS in it. Fixed-wing ircraft don't operate from an ANCHORED aircraft carrier. Secondly, how far was the Turkish aircraft from Karpathos? If it was more than ten miles, the Turk was in international airspace, not GREEK airspace. Besides, how could two aircraft with operational radar run into each other? Something smells to high heaven here. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-05-28 14:55 |
| #6 Neither is an ally, OK? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-05-28 14:29 |
| #5 The Greeks are looking to take some shots at encroaching Turks or at least threaten to do so. It's not a good time for U.S. planes to be wandering in without the Greeks' knowledge. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-05-28 14:08 |
| #4 I was stationed in Greece in the early 80s and their status as ally was overstated. They were more like landlords with a touch of la costra nostra thrown in for good measure. Don't get me wrong I made some good friends in Greece but the government was alway looking for a way to squeeze a buck out of the U.S. The always tried to block or Inteligence flights from flying in Greek airspace even though those planes were based in Greece (under NATO) for that specific purpose. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-05-28 13:12 |
| #3 Greece is not an ally? Turkey is - in Iraq for the last few years: http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/turkey_0.htm |
| Posted by: Matt K. 2006-05-28 10:19 |
| #2 Greece is not an ally. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-28 09:30 |
| #1 The logic escapes me. A greek and turkish plane collide so you ban the US navy from flying? WTF? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-28 08:39 |