Greece, Turkey withdraw ships from Imia but Cyprus stalemate remains

The tension between Greece and Turkey after the incident near the Imia islets in the eastern Aegean on Monday night showed signs of de-escalation Wednesday as both Greek and Turkish vessels withdrew from the vicinity.

The de-escalation came as Athens seeks to highlight Ankara's provocative stance in the Aegean and Cyprus as a threat not just to Greece, but to the borders of the European Union and the wider region as well.

To this end sources on Wednesday said that Athens will seek to activate the EU's mutual defense clause that calls for solidarity between member-states in dealing with external threats. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he was "strictly against the behavior of Turkey." The initial stance of the EU has been well received in Athens, which says the escalation by Turkey is intentional as, according to government spokesman...