Kalymnos

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos says he has received reassurances from NATO that it will do everything it can to make Turkey understand that it cannot provoke its ally Greece and dispute its territorial integrity.

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 latest Imia crisis simply serves as confirmation of Ankara's longstanding strategy as an expression of nervousness or frustration over ongoing developments at home.

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos has slammed Turkey's "provocative behavior" following a naval incident in the Aegean, saying it "goes beyond tolerable levels."

In comments made after briefing NATO's defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, Kammenos said that by violating Greece's territorial waters, Turkey was also breaching European Union sovereignty.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he was "strictly against the behavior of Turkey" after a Turkish coast guard patrol vessel rammed a Greek coast guard boat near Imia islets around midnight on Monday. 

The chief advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Turkey's TRT channel that he is "in no doubt" that the US has a plan to make Greece attack Turkey while its military is engaged in Syria.

Turkey's response, Yigit Bulut said, will be tough, adding that Greece is no match for Turkey's might.

New Democracy has decided to put on hold for a few days its proposal for Parliament to form an investigative committee to look into Defence Minister Panos Kammanos's role in a recent failed deal to sell ammunition to Saudi Arabia.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday.

Tension has escalated dangerously in the Aegean as Turkish gunboats Tuesday surrounded the Imia islets after an incident in the vicinity on Monday midnight when a Greek coast guard boat was rammed by a Turkish patrol boat. The two countries came to the brink of war over the islets in 1996.

The US State Department has called on Greece and Turkey to use their regular diplomatic channels to resolve any disputes in the Aegean following an incident on Monday night, when a Turkish coast guard vessel rammed a Greek patrol boat off the Imia islets.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has lodged a demarche to protest against the latest incident in the Aegean where a Turkish coast guard vessel rammed a Greek patrol boat off the Imia islets in the Aegean.