Erdogan warns Greece against ‘move’ over Imia islets

Twenty-four years after the Imia crisis brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday warned Athens against making any "move" over the eastern Aegean islets whose sovereignty is disputed by Ankara.

"This year there was no crisis around Kardak," Erdogan told journalists on Wednesday, using the Turkish name for the Imia. "Why? Because we kept a specific stance. We said that if [Greece makes] any move, of the sort it has made in the past, then we will respond differently; and you will see that if Greece makes no move around Imia, then there will be no move on our side either," Erdogan said.

"My defense minister would most probably call the Greek defense minister to thank him and to continue this process in Imia and the other islands," he added.