 Five days before the incident, a Turkish F-16 pilot was doing dangerous maneuvers, while being intercepted by Greek F-16 fighters, attempting to hit a Greek fighter.Turkey used its F-16s extensively in its conflict with separatist Kurds in southeastern parts of Turkey and Iraq.Turkey launched its first cross-border raid on 16 December 2007, a prelude to the 2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq, involving 50 fighters before Operation Sun.