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Turkey emboldens as Mitsotakis shows weakness – Drone threatens Alexandroupoli

A Turkish drone violated Greek airspace near Alexandroupoli Airport, disrupting civil aviation before being intercepted by F-16 fighters, in what critics called another provocation.

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe Staff Writer

AUGUST 28, 2026 AT 9:30 PM

Turkey has grown emboldened by the cowardice (and not mere tolerance) displayed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his government toward Ankara’s irrational and illegal demands. On the morning of Friday, August 28, a Turkish drone came within a breath of Alexandroupoli Airport, entering the terminal area and violating the Athens FIR. Its presence caused disruption to civil aviation, and instructions had to be issued to an aircraft taking off at the same time the Turkish UAV was in the area.

The Akinci drone, transmitting with the call sign DOGUS, swept through the Thracian Sea. According to thrakinea.gr and reported by Newsbreak, it operated for three hours in the sea area northwest of Samothrace and around Alexandroupoli, within the Greek FIR. Its activity raised concerns about the smooth conduct of civil flights.

Αποθρασύνθηκε ο Ερντογάν από τη δειλία του Μητσοτάκη - Drone «απείλησε» την Αλεξανδρούπολη! — Αποθρασύνθηκε ο Ερντογάν από τη δειλία του Μητσοτάκη – Drone «απείλησε» την Αλεξανδρούπολη!

Response with a pair of F-16s

The Hellenic Air Force reacted immediately to the provocation. It dispatched a pair of F-16 fighter jets to identify and intercept the Turkish unmanned aircraft. The drone subsequently passed close to Samothrace and Lemnos before exiting national airspace.

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Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe

She was born in 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Crete who settled in the Greek community of Johannesburg (one of the largest in Africa). She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and a master’s degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She began her career at English-language media outlets in Johannesburg, covering politics and economics, with a focus on issues related to migration and the diaspora. She moved to Athens in 2015 to “return to her roots,” initially to pursue graduate studies, and has remained there permanently. She is married to an Afrikaner; they have two children and live in the southern suburbs of Athens.