Cyprus has said it would lodge formal complaints with European Union officials over alleged Turkish interference with aircraft carrying the defense ministers of Greece, France and the Netherlands to the island.
The Cypriot government said the aircraft experienced interference with radio communications from Ercan Airport in the Turkish-controlled north of the island.
Cypriot officials also said Turkish fighter jets tracked at least one of the aircraft, which was carrying Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, while remaining at a distance.
The ministers were traveling to Cyprus for an informal meeting of European Union defense ministers. Cyprus currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Victor Papadopoulos, head of the Cypriot presidential press office, said Cyprus would formally report the incidents to European Union officials.
Turkey’s Presidential Communications Directorate denied the allegations, calling reports of harassment false.
It said six aircraft flew between Greece and Cyprus on Sunday and claimed that four entered airspace controlled by the Turkish Cypriot administration.
Turkey acknowledged that two F-16s stationed in northern Cyprus were scrambled as a precaution but said they remained within Turkish Cypriot-controlled airspace and did not harass the aircraft.
The statement did not provide radar records, flight paths or other evidence supporting Turkey’s account. Cypriot authorities have also not released recordings of the reported radio interference or radar data showing the movements of the Turkish jets.
Turkish Cypriot air traffic officials also denied that the fighter jets had followed or threatened the European aircraft. A union official representing air traffic controllers in the north said the jets had taken off because of an emergency but did not provide further details.
The dispute centers in part on rival claims over airspace and air traffic control around Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey sent troops to the island after a coup backed by the military government then ruling Greece.
The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, is internationally recognized as the authority governing the island. The Turkish Cypriot administration in the north is recognized only by Turkey.
Ercan Airport is not recognized as an international airport by the International Civil Aviation Organization. International aviation authorities assign responsibility for air traffic control around the island to the Republic of Cyprus.
Turkey, however, treats northern Cyprus and its airspace as belonging to a separate Turkish Cypriot state.