Turkey demanded that the Minister of defence of Germany not to visit the Island by helicopter

Turkish authorities demanded that the Minister of defence of Germany Ursula von der Leyen did not visit the Greek island of Lesbos on a military helicopter (Grreek media).

Ankara claims that it is a demilitarized zone, and therefore the landing there of military aircraft is unacceptable.

The visit of the head of the German defense Ministry in located in Lesvos Mytilene is scheduled for 6 March. It is reported that von der Leyen wants to personally assess the situation of refugees. Under the program, after a visit to Mytilene, the Minister must take the helicopter of NATO on the German ship “Bonn”, participates in the mission of the Alliance in the Aegean sea to reduce the flow of migrants.

When will there be a visit of the head of the defense Ministry to the island of Lesbos or not, not reported.

A similar case occurred in early February with the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras, who wanted to visit Iran. The Turkish authorities prohibited the flight of aircraft of a head of government through its airspace. As a result Tsipras was forced to change the route and fly via Egypt.

February 15 combat aircraft of the Turkish air force several times violated the air space of Greece. Such incidents come at a time when a naval grouping of NATO is going to start patrols in the waters separating Turkey from Greece. The goal is to stop illegal traffic of refugees from Syria and Iraq to Europe.

Thousands of migrants risk lives on a daily basis cross the Aegean sea in search of asylum in the European Union, which is experiencing the most severe migration crisis since the Second world war. For 2015 reached Europe more than a million refugees. Out of them 850 thousand took the route via Turkey and the Aegean sea.
 [rushincrash.com]
2/3/16
--
-
Related:

• German defense minister denied entry to Turkey in military helicopter

• Οι Τούρκοι δεν αφήνουν τη Γερμανίδα υπουργό Αμυνας να προσγειωθεί στη Λέσβο!

• Η Τουρκία δεν επέτρεψε στην υπουργό Άμυνας της Γερμανίας να προσγειωθεί στη Μυτιλήνη  

• Calling it a “fabricated” report, Ankara has denied the accuracy of a report which has suggested that NATO vessels deployed in the Aegean Sea to help stop the flow of migrants to Europe have not yet started operating in Turkish waters because they have not been given permission yet from Turkey...