Dodecanese

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.

BELGRADE - Greek military drills held on the Kos island contradict the international law, namely the 1947 Paris peace agreement which confirms the demilitarized status of the Eastern Aegean Islands, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Sputnik on Friday.

Upping the ante in the war of words between Ankara and Athens over territorial rights, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in comments published on Friday that a total of 130 islets in the Aegean "have no identity" and are therefore subject to dispute.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called on Greece to refrain from escalating tensions between the two countries in response to a military exercise on the Aegean island of Kos. The provocative statement comes only a few hours after the Turkish PM, Binali Yildirim disputed the sovereignty of 130 isles in the Aegean Sea.