Bodies of water

Turkish fighter jets flew over northern Evros, the Greek-Turkish land border, on Wednesday, in an indication of Ankara's determination on ratcheting up tensions. 

Specifically, a pair of Turkish F-16s conducted an overflight over northern Evros, at an altitude ranging between 10,000 and 500 feet, at 2.50 p.m.

Turkey rescued 97 asylum seekers stranded in the Aegean Sea, the Turkish Coast Guard said on March 6.

The asylum seekers were in three rubber boats that were punctured Thursday by the Greek Coast Guard, Turkish authorities said in a tweet.

Talks will begin between Greek and Turkish officials in Athens on Monday to adopt confidence-building measures in a bid to reduce tensions in the Aegean.

The aim is to keep channels of communication with Ankara open so that there is a swift and political resolution of any issues that might emerge. Discussions are expected to focus on technical, military issues.

After a few days of sunny weather, a new cold front is expected to briefly affect Greece, according to the National Observatory's Meteo weather service on Thursday.

The upcoming cold front will move rapidly as of Friday, crossing our country from northwest to southeast, and leaving on Saturday.

Deputy Defense Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis said migration is a "matter of national security" and is being handled as such, while expressing support for a plan to install a floating barrier in the Aegean Sea to prevent migrant boats from entering Greece's waters.

Turkey has lost 10 of its lakes in the last 30 years due to climate change, drought and wrong agricultural irrigation techniques, the head of a natural protection association has said.

Following criticism by Amnesty International and other human rights groups, the government on Friday continued to defend its plan for a floating barrier in the Aegean to curb an increased influx of migrants from Turkey as the European Commission and Germany appeared to distance themselves from the scheme.

Leading cruise operator MSC Cruises announced on Wednesday in Athens a first for the Swiss-based operator: the launch of a new route across the Aegean and the East Mediterranean that will have Piraeus as its home port.

The government's plan to ease pressure on Aegean islands amid the continuing arrival of irregular migrants from neighboring Turkey foresees 10 new centers on the mainland that will be able to host up to 15,000 asylum seekers, with the first 10,000 to be transferred from the islands to the new facilities by the end of February, Kathimerini understands.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested it in the past but he made it clear in an interview with CNN-Turk TV: Turkey wants to change the status quo in the Bosporus, putting an end to the free passage of vessels using the strait as set out in the 1936 Montreux Convention.