Aegean Sea

Tensions between Greece and Turkey over the status of a series of Greeks isles and islets in the Aegean Sea are rising, following a barrage of statements made by the Turkish political establishment.

As Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras joins nine of his European counterparts, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in Vienna on Saturday to discuss the refugee crisis, authorities on the Aegean islands on Friday struggled to keep order at overcrowded migrant reception centers.

A new round of restructuring is under way in the Greek coastal shipping industry, with its catalyst being the tender by Piraeus Bank for the sale of a 40.44 percent stake in Hellenic Seaways (HSW) that belongs to the lender's portfolio.

Human smugglers have started to use new rhetoric in order to trick migrants in Turkey into making the perilous journey to Greek islands with the hope of a better life, while also lowering the prices of the journeys on mostly unsafe dinghies.  

The final exhibition of the season at Bozcaada Art Gallery, on the island of Bozcaada off Turkey's northwestern province of Çanakkale, is titled "A Meeting of Ceramics, Glass and Sculpture," and features the work of many local artists.

Residents of Lesvos are alarmed over information that construction of a new hotspot on the Aegean island is under way. Video footage of ongoing construction work at the deserted military outpost of Lemonou, has raised concern among the local population.

There was unrest at a reception center on the Aegean island of Chios early on Monday when young migrants set fire to mattresses and other bedding in a protest at their living conditions and at delays in processing their requests for asylum.

Police intervened before the protest escalated and there were no reports of any injuries.

The government proves day by day that it is incompetent to handle the approximately 54,000 refugees and migrants stranded in Greece after the EU-Turkey agreement.

The Greek coast guard rescued 49 migrants off the coast of Samos in the Aegean early on Saturday.

The migrants were in a dinghy that was found east of the island.

They were all taken to the port of Vathy for medical checks.

Greek concerns are growing about the continued violation of national air space in the Aegean by Turkish fighter jets ahead of the Easter holiday, usually a calm period.