The head of Greece's Tactical Air Force, Lieutenant General Georgakopoulos, visited Turkey's Combat Air Force Command in...

The head of Greece's Tactical Air Force, Lieutenant General Georgakopoulos, visited Turkey's Combat Air Force Command in Eskisehir from November 3 to 5, meeting with his Turkish counterpart, General Erdoğan Gür. The visit was part of the ongoing bilateral confidence-building programme between the two countries' armed forces. Eskisehir is no routine air base. It serves as the headquarters of Turkey's Combat Air Force and Air Missile Defence Command, houses the national combined air operations center that controls Turkish airspace, and is the last Turkish base still operating F-4E Phantom jets alongside F-16 squadrons. The visit follows a pattern of stepped-up military contacts between Athens and Ankara in recent weeks. On October 9, Greek and Turkish delegations met in Chania, Crete, to review confidence-building activities for 2026 and plan the 2027 programme. Five days later, naval representatives from both countries met in Ankara under the same framework. Separately, the Greek frigate Aigaion is set to visit the Turkish naval base at Aksaz from November 7 to 13 for the NATO Blue Whale exercise, adding another layer of military contact between the two countries in the same week. The confidence-building measures are designed to reduce the risk of incidents and miscalculation between two NATO allies that maintain longstanding and unresolved disputes over airspace and territorial waters in the Aegean. No details were released about the substance of the discussions during Georgakopoulos's visit to Eskisehir. #Greece #Turkey #NATO