The following information and translations were provided by PFEARFU.

In mid-July and from 10 to 23 August 2020, Turkey unilaterally issued NAVTEX concerning the sailing of the URUC REIS research vessel for seismic surveys. As soon as the Turkish research vessel, accompanied by the Turkish fleet, entered the Greek continental shelf, the Hellenic armed forces, around the country, immediately went on alert, all summer leaves were revoked and all military personnel returned to their positions immediately to be ready for operations. The Greek fleet sailed from the first hour and it is still to the area of the research in order to prevent illegal actions against the country.

During this emergency situation, PFEARFU received many messages from colleagues concerning personnel issues and we took action with the following results:

Οn 13 August 2020, PFEARFU issued the a statement (original version in here, translation below):

“Honorable Ministers, Honorable Secretary-General, Honorable Chiefs Staff,

1. PFEARFU, expresses its full support and gratitude to all our colleagues, who continue to work with vigor and determination, fully responding to the orders of our political and military leadership.
2. At a time when a large number of our colleagues were on summer leave or had planned their leave, they were de facto forced, fully responding to their sense of duty, to return, suspend or even cancel their already short vacations, for which most had paid enough money from their family budget.
3. Our Federation invites our colleagues to keep all the documents of the expenses, (tickets, rentals in accommodation, tolls, etc.), money which was lost or will obviously be lost due to the events.
4. We call on the Political and Military leadership of the Armed Forces to consider at a later time, the compensation of the above expenses, the immediate implementation of the payment of all 24-hour services that has not been implemented for 4 years and the compensation of overtime service performed at this period.
5. The Armed Forces, of which all Greeks are proud, will continue in any case to fulfill their constitutional role, as guarantors of the national independence and territorial integrity of our country.“

Fortunately, one day later, on 14 August 2020, the Minister of National Defence responded positively to this request. The announcement of the Minister as well as PFEARFUs reaction can be found here in their original language, a translation is below.

Ministry of National Defence Announcement: We would like to inform you that compensation has been approved for military personnel due to the suspension of summer leaves. The military personnel are required to bring all the travel documents in order to start the compensation process.

PFEARFUs reaction: Our Federation, welcomes the immediate and positive response of the Minister of National Defence, Mr. Nikos Panagiotopoulos, to the just request of our colleagues, for the compensation of travel expenses of the military personnel whose leave was revoked.

Οn 15 August 2020 PFEARFU  issued the following announcement (original version here, translation below):

“Honorable Ministers, Honorable Secretary-General, Honorable Chiefs of Staff,

1. PFEARFU, received and conveys to you the concern and irritation that prevails in the personnel of the Armed Forces, who, while for almost a month now, perform continuous and increased emergency services, were informed on Thursday, August 13th , that the supply of food within the camps ceases and they are encouraged to go for a short time to their homes, by their own means, at distances even greater than 40 km, to receive food and then return to continue their service in their Units.
2. Our colleagues perform on-call duty services in camps far beyond the normal schedule, as well as on weekends and holidays. According to the orders, everybody has the right to be fed by the supplies of the Units, but the leadership did not took care to cover this basic right.  As a result, all our colleagues who are on alert, were called to Units in the areas of Epirus, Thessaloniki, Evros and elsewhere to go on Saturday, August 15, to their homes to receive food. Unfortunately, the absence of written orders from the leadership, for the correct execution of the overtime service program and the equal treatment of the personnel, had as a consequence the creation of undesirable situations. 
3. Our federation, requests your immediate intervention and the resolution of this serious issue to avoid the negative effects it causes on the psychology and morale of our colleagues.
4. The military personnel of the Armed Forces, faithful to our obligations, will continue to operate with a sense of individual and collective responsibility, performing our duties for as long as required, consolidating the sense of security in the Greek people. With faith and dedication to the orders of our Political and Military leadership and in order to avoid confusion in the personnel, we ask for your immediate intervention and resolution of the issue.”

For more information, please contact PFEARFU.