Agathonisi

Hopes that tension between Athens and Ankara would subside after the meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday were dashed on Monday after two Turkish missile boats entered Greek territorial waters off the southeast Aegean island of Agathonisi.

Two Turkish missile boats entered Greek territorial waters off the southeast Aegean island of Agathonisi on Monday.

The vessels, which were taking part in maritime exercise code-named Denizkurdu (Seawolf), stayed in Greek territorial waters for about 20 minutes.

The Turkish boats were monitored by vessels of the Hellenic Navy before they left.

Turkish navy ships violated Greek national waters without interception from Greek naval forces for 20 minutes around the waters of the island of Agathonisi near Kalymnos in the south Aegean Sea.

Turkish authorities Friday issued navigational telexes reserving an area in the central Aegean between the islands of Psarra, Skyros and Evia for naval exercises planned for a large part of next month.

Ahead of that, the Turkish Navy is to start a major exercise code-named Denizkurdu (Seawolf), which Greek authorities will also be monitoring closely.

At an informal meeting with his European Union counterparts in Malta on Thursday, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos brought to their attention Turkey's repeated questioning of Greece's territorial rights and incursions into the country's air space and waters.

The claim on Wednesday by a Turkish minister that the tiny inhabited Greek island of Agathonisi in the southeastern Aegean was "Turkish" essentially dashed any expectations in Athens that Ankara would tone down the recent upsurge of its incendiary rhetoric once the historic constitutional referendum in the neighboring country ended 10 days ago.

The Turkish European Affairs Minister, Omer Celik made a provocative statement claiming the island of Agathonisi was Turkish territory in an interview on Turkish television, Wednesday. His statement came as a response to the recent visit during Easter to the island by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, who Mr. Celik attacked personally saying his trip there was not a “serious move”.

The Turkish Defence Minister, Fikri Isik unleashed a verbal attack against his Greek counterpart Panos Kammenos during a ceremony held at the Turkish national assembly on occasion of Turkey’s National Sovereignty Day. Commenting on Mr.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık criticized his Greek counterpart Panos Kammenos for his April 16 visit to Eşek Island (Agathonisi in Greek), the sovereignty of which is disputed, vowing that Turkey will not become a part of a "Greek show" in the Aegean but will also not allow any fait accompli.

A formation of four Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space north of the Aegean island of Agathonisi on Tuesday, defense officials said.

The four aircraft - two F-16s and two F-4s - entered the Athens Flight Information Region just after 3 p.m. and subsequently flew over Agathonisi at an altitude of 30,000 feet.