Farmakonisi

The Greek Coast Guard said it rescued 14 migrants and recovered one body from Farmakonisi, a small island in the eastern Aegean, on Tuesday morning.

The rescuees, five men, six women and three children, were transferred to the migrant center on Leros and the body to the local hospital. 

The island's port authority is conducting the investigation. 

Five migrants died when a dinghy sank off the coast of southwest Turkey on Saturday, the coastguard said, adding that it had rescued 11 people, while Greece said five more migrants from the same wreck were found on a nearby island.

A new video has been released documenting the incident on January 5 when a Turkish patrol boat harassed a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel and attempted to ram it near the eastern Aegean island of Farmakonisi.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has sent a letter to Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell calling for the implementation of the regulation banning imports of fish from Turkey into the EU due to the practice of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Turkish vessels in Greek terri

A fresh incident unfolded in the Aegean on Thursday morning with the harassment of a Greek coast guard vessel by a Turkish patrol boat, with Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar presenting his version of events, claiming the Greek side "harassed and shot at our fishermen."

A Coast Guard patrol boat was harassed by a Turkish offshore vessel on Thursday morning off the Dodecanese island of Farmakonisi, the Coast Guard has said.

In a statement, the Coast Guard said its vessel was attempting to identify three Turkish fishing vessels that were fishing within Greek territorial waters, southeast of Farmakonisi.

Members of the Afghan community of Greece protest in Athens on 7 February 2014 over the death of 12 immigrants off the island of Farmakonisi on 23 January, 2014.  Photo: EPA/ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS

After months of declarations from top Turkish government officials that Greece's sovereignty over a number of its islands in the eastern Mediterranean is contingent upon Athens demilitarising them, now Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly decided that he wishes to forbid Deputy Defence Minister Nikos Hardalias from visiting the said islands without Ankara's permission.

The Turkish media continue the provocative propaganda about the Greek islands, which they claim are Turkish.

Erkan Karakous, Vice Admiral, said that Agathonisi, Farmakonisi, Pserimos, Kinaros and some other islands belong to Turkey and there is no doubt about that.

As Turkey on Wednesday conducted yet more violations of Greek airspace with a pair of F-16s entering the Athens Flight Information Region over the eastern Aegean islet of Farmakonisi, its Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu further raised tensions, insisting that his country's "open border" policy for anyone wishing to cross into Europe will continue.