Greek air force pilot 'flew F16 to Turkey' to withdraw euros
Pilot gets around country's strict ATM withdrawal limits, which still only allow a little over £40 a day to be drawn
A Greek air force pilot allegedly commandeered his F-16 and flew the plane to neighbouring Turkey to withdraw €2,000 from ATMs, to get around thecountry's current restrictions.
The pilot was flying a patrol over the Greek island of Samos on Saturday when he “suddenly changed course and made for an abandoned airfield” in the town of Söke just two miles away in Turkey’s western province of Aydın, according to a French aviation website.
The RadioCocpit.fr website claims that the pilot “hid” the plane in a hanger while he made to the town centre of Söke where he withdrew the equivalent amount of around £1,400 €2,000 in Turkish lira from three ATMs before changing them into euros at a foreign exchange bureau. He then scrambled his aircraft and returned to Nea Anchialos airfield in Greece.
The flight has upset Ankara for showing an irreverent regard for banking rules which still only allow a little over £40 a day to be drawn from Greek ATMs – despite banks opening there on Sunday
A Greek government official told the Telegraph that they had heard of the report in the Turkish press but was reluctant to comment on it.
Sixty Euros, the maximum amount allowed after the imposed capital controls in Greek banks, are withdrawn at a bank branch ATM in central Athens
This morning banks were finally open after being closed for three weeks but new taxes meant coffee, tea and even condoms all cost more.
In the centre of Athens, people still queued up as the banks unlocked their doors at 8 am. New rules meant that the €60 a day withdrawal limit remained in place but after one week customers were now allowed to take out previous days allocations which were left.
But a hike in VAT charges, insisted as part of a new EU bail out, is going to sting most Greeks even more from Monday.
The VAT rose from 13 per cent to 23 per cent, making some meats, cooking oils other than olive oil, cocoa, vinegar, salt, flowers, firewood, fertiliser, insecticides, sanitary towels and other basics all more expensive.
Many restrictions on transactions, including cash withdrawals, remained, however.
Yet reports on Monday from a news agency gave a clue as to why the Greek pilot made the unorthodox visit to Greece’s greatest adversary, Turkey.
Bank customers will no longer be able to get cash abroad with their Greek credit or cash cards, only make purchases.
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