Turkey and the NOTAM "battering ram"

While the tension over the Aegean sea keeps rising, Turkish authorities have issued yet another illegal NOTAM ,which was rejected by the Greek Civial Aviation the only competent authority to issue such notices within the Athinai Flight Information Region ,according to the ICAO.The Turkish tactic has been used in the past numerous times.A prime example is the following one

The Turkish Civil Aviation Authority with the A3673/06 NOTAM puts yet another mark on the long list of direct and indirect claims over Greek National territory .The said NOTAM reserves areas well within the 10nm limit of the National Airspace but in certain occasions it goes well beyond the 6nm limit Turkey claims it recognises(North of the Greek island of Limnos).Another interesting fact is that the Turkish NOTAM reserves the areas North of Limnos and South of Ikaria island from the 4rth of January 2007 till.....the 28th of December of the same year(!) except Saturdays,Sundays and holidays..after the expected rejection by the Greek authorities the usual NOTAM "war" followed, with an exchange of additional statements from both sides.(The illegally reserved area south of Ikaria is aproximately 45nm from the nearest Turkish coast deep in the heart of the Aegean Sea)

As a sidenote the Joint Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces issued a statement protesting the violation of "Turkish" airspace that was reserved for military manoeuvres..In the same time another statement was issued stating that Turkish jets were "harassed" over International Airspace(ie Greek Airspace ,Turkey refuses to recognise) as Greek jets scrambled to intercept.Thus baptising parts of Greek sovereign airspace as Turkish or International according to its current agenda and in complete disregard to any sense of international law or treaty.

The NOTAMs and photos of the reserved areas follow
(The reserved areas are outlined in red,the white lines correspond to 6nm..)


The NOTAM issued by the Turkish authorities

A3673/06 - (Issued for LTBB LGGG) NAVIGATIONAL WARNING 1.TURKEY REQUESTED THE GREEK AIS TO PROMULGATE APPROPRIATE NOTAM FOR THE EXERCISE AREA LOCATED WITHIN INTERNATIONAL WATERS AND AIRSPACE OF AEGEAN SEA FOR THE TURKISH FIRING EXERCISE TO BE CONDUCTED FROM 04 JAN 07 TILL 28 DEC 07 0500-1300 UTC.(EXCEPT SATURDAYS,SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS) WITH REF 131508 LTAAYEYX. GREEK AIS DID NOT PROMULGATE APPROPRIATE NOTAM FOR THE EXERCISE AREA IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR REF.UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES DUE TO THE INSISTENT ATTITUDE OF GREECE,TURKEY IS LEFT WITH NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE BUT TO TAKE ITS OWN INTIATIVE TO PROMULGATE THE NECESSARY NOTAM FOR THE EXERCISE AREA. TURKEY WILL TAKE NECESSARY MEASURES FOR THE SAFETY OF THE GENERAL AIR TRAFFIC AS SHE DID IN THE PAST AND IS ALWAYS READY FOR COOPERATION AND COORDINATION IN THIS RESPECT. 2.THE NOTAM INFORMATION FOR THE EXERCISE AREA IS AS FOLLOWS: EXERCISE AREA:ATHINAI FIR(FIRING) A.LATERAL LIMITS:372700N0261700E 370830N0262730E 370500N0260900E 372400N0260000E 372400N0260400E B.VERTICAL LIMITS:0-10 000FT MSL(INC) C.DATE AND TIMES:FROM 04 JAN 07 TILL 28 DEC 07 0500-1300 UTC (EXCEPT SATURDAYS,SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS) 3.PROCEDURES FOR EXERCISE AIRCRAFT: A.THE FLIGHTS WILL BE CONDUCTED AT VFR CONDITIONS AND UNDER POSITIVE RADAR CONTROL. B.EXERCISE AIRCRAFT SHALL DISPLAY ANTI/COLLISION AND NAVIGATION LIGHTS CONTINUOUSLY. 4.PROCEDURES FOR NON-EXERCISE AIRCRAFT IN THE INTEREST OF FLYING SAFETY DURING THE EXERCISE,NON-EXERCISE AIRCRAFT ARE STRONGLY ADVISED NOT TO FLY WITHIN THE EXERCISE AREA DESCRIBED ABOVE. 04 JAN 05:00 2007 UNTIL 28 DEC 13:00 2007

(The area North of the island of Limnos and the 6nm limit in white)

(the illegally reserved area south of the island of Ikaria.Note how the limits of the area are carefully selected to remain outside the 6nm limit in this case-white line- ,questioning the 10nm limit of the national airspace)