Greece–Turkey border

Turkey can come close to the EU only if it complies with international law, Dendias said

A video released on Thursday by a news website on the eastern Aegean island of Kalymnos appears to show a Turkish coast guard patrol vessel harassing a Greek fishing boat near Imia, a cluster of uninhabited islets that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war in 1996.

The understanding between the Greek and Turkish Ministries of Foreign Affairs is that the diplomatic missions will discuss on January 25 the point where exploratory contacts ended in 2016 and the issues that may have been added to the agenda of each country.

In the runup to the resumption of exploratory contacts on January 25, Turkey is seeking to set the agenda, adding issues it wants to negotiate despite Greece's insistence that the sole topic for discussion is the delimitation of maritime zones between the two countries. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Greece of raising tension in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, calling on Athens "cease activities… such as "airspace violations and illegal actions on the issue of the islands."

By George Gilson

After a year of Turkish threats to Greek sovereignty on land, at the Evros border region, and at sea, in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek foreign ministry in a curt statement announced that the 61st round of Greek-Turkish «exploratory talks» will begin on 25 January in Istanbul.

A Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat that was rammed by a Turkish vessel near the uninhabited islets of Imia in the early hours of Wednesday has only suffered minor damage, authorities said Thursday.

A Greek and a Turkish Coast Guard boat collided near the rocky islets of Imia in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday morning when the Turkish vessel rammed the Greek one which was patrolling the area, according to the Greek Coast Guard on Wednesday.

The Greek newly-built Rafnar type speedboat suffered some damages, according to sources that did not specify their extent.

January is expected to be a month of developments in Greek-Turkish relations, with Athens reportedly eyeing a possible restart of exploratory talks with Ankara.

“In 2020 Greece secured its borders in Evros & the Aegean Sea & guarded its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean”