Kostas Moutzouris

Some 20,000 Turks traveled to five Greek islands in the Aegean Sea during the nine-day-long Eid al-Fitr break after Greece launched the visa-on-arrival scheme for Turkish holidaymakers.

The number of Turkish tourists visiting those Greek islands increased by 20 percent compared to the same period of last year.

The deployment of hundreds of riot police on the islands of Lesvos and Chios was intended as a display of governmental decisiveness in building closed detention centres to house migrants and refugees, but the operation boomeranged with dramatic clashes between islanders and police receiving intense media coverage and mutual recriminations between protesting residents who charged extensive polic

A meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Kostas Moutzouris scheduled for Thursday in a bid to de-escalate tension on the islands has been canceled after a video emerged of the North Aegean regional governor criticizing the conservative prime minister while making an obscene gesture.

After extensive clashes between officers and islanders that left 62 people injured on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios, the government announced on Wednesday that it is withdrawing most of the riot police units that were stationed there to counter fierce reaction to the creation of new, closed migrant camps.

Protesters on the Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios were showing no sign of backing down in their resistance to government plans to build new migrants camps on Tuesday morning, following overnight clashes with riot police.

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas on Wednesday weighed in on a row between the Greek government and local authorities over plans to build pre-deportation centers on the five Aegean islands that are on the frontline of the migration/refugee crisis, calling for a greater "sense of responsibility and consensus."

Northern Aegean Regional Governor Kostas Moutzouris said he was "surprised" by the Greek government's sudden announcement on Monday that it is speeding up the creation of new, closed migrant centers on the islands.

The regional governor of the Northern Aegean, Kostas Moutzouris submitted a new call on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency on three islands, following two days of protest marches by asylum seekers demanding better living conditions and a quicker asylum procedure, and attacks by extremists in Lesvos.

Residents on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Tuesday barged into the General Secretariat for Aegean and Island policy in the capital of Mytilini to demand a response from Athens to overcrowding at the Moria refugee and migrant camp following tension the previous day at a rally by camp residents protesting substandard living conditions and asylum processing delays.

A meeting between Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis and officials from the three Greek Aegean islands hosting the largest number of refugees and migrants concluded with an initiative to hold regular meetings to examine developments on the islands and inform them on the government's plans.