Dodecanese

A Turkish military patrol boat fired shots early Friday morning in the area around the eastern Aegean island of Farmakonisi, the Greek defense ministry said.

According to the ministry, Turkish authorities issued a Navtex on Thursday informing of a military exercise with live ammunition in the area east of Farmakonisi on Friday morning.

Turkey continued its provocations towards Greece over the Aegean Sea, Wednesday with 7 airplanes violating Greek airspace a total of 25 times. Four armed F-16 fighter jets flew over the island of Farmakonisi off the west coast of Turkey, while they infringed the Athens FIR 7 times.

A pair of Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space above the island of Farmakonisi on Wednesday.

The two F16s entered the Athens Flight Information Region at 1.18 p.m and flew over Farmakonisi at an altitude of 26,000 feet.

The Turkish air-force violated Greek airspace on 16 occasions and committed 2 infringements of the Athens flight information region (FIR) on Tuesday. The aggressive posture of Turkey comes after a series of recent polemic statements by Turkish politicians and sea violations near the island of Imia in the eastern Aegean Sea.

According to Turkish media reports, an incident occurred between Greek and Turkish coastguard ships near the island of Imia, Monday. The online edition of Turkish “Milliyet” reported that two coastguard boats were involved in a standoff with crews from both vessels urging each other to depart from the region on loudspeakers.

Ties between Ankara and Athens remained strained over the weekend, with Greece's armed forces under instructions to remain alert but calm, following an escalating war of words over sovereignty in the Aegean and an unprecedented spike in Turkish provocations.

Ties between Ankara and Athens remained strained over the weekend, with Greece's armed forces under instructions to remain alert but calm, following an escalating war of words over sovereignty in the Aegean and an unprecedented spike in Turkish provocations.

The fallout from Ankara after the Supreme Court's decision last week not to extradite eight servicemen to stand trial in Turkey for their alleged role in the failed coup attempt in July, continued on Friday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim disputing Greece's sovereignty over "130 small and large chunks of rocks in the Aegean."

Turkey accused Greece on Friday of breaching international law by carrying out a military exercise on an island in the Aegean Sea, in an escalating row between the two NATO allies.

A Turkish national was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of spying, Greek authorities announced. Cengiz Uyugur, 51, who is chief engineer of a cargo ship named M/V Makbule Ana under a Turkish flag, was arrested while taking photographs of the dockyard in Salamis. According to sources, the man was detected by Greek navy officers, who in turn informed the coastguard of Elefsina.