And finally…I feel the need, the need for some cash…

As the vast majority of Greeks suffer under the restrictions of capital controls, including the 60 Euro limit on ATM withdrawals, reports have emerged that one of the nation’s fighter pilots took his aircraft off to neighbouring Turkey in order to visit a hole-in-the-wall there.

According to French website RadiCocpit.fr, Greek fighter pilot Homere Sipostopoulos allegedly landed his F-16 in Turkey, withdrew money from local ATMs then returned back to base.

Already familiar with the area from frequent training exercises over the Aegean, pilot Sipostopoulos was flying a patrol over the Greek island of Samos when he suddenly changed course and head towards an abandoned airfield in the town of Söke just 3 kilometers away in Turkey’s western province of Aydın.



Upon landing at the airfield, which had once been used for military training flights but had been shut down 15 years ago, the Greek pilot then taxied his plane into one of the dilapidated hangars nearby to hide it.

Exiting his plane, Sipostopoulos then proceeded to Söke city center on foot and withdrew TRY 2,000 (EUR 700) from three different ATMs, each, before heading to the change office and having it all converted to Euros.

Now with over EUR 2,000 on hand, the pilot quickly returned to the hangar and took off, returning back to the Nea Anchialos airfield in Greece.

The French site RadiCocpit.fr also claimed that following the incident, the Turkish government filed a formal protest with Athens.

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