Ro, Greece

Turkey made up the story about its coast guard taking down a Greek flag on an islet in the southeastern Aegean after a Turkish helicopter was chased off from the area of Ro, Alternate Defense Minister Fotis Kouvelis said on Tuesday.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said on Monday that there was no evidence of any "violation of Greek territory" following claims by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim that the Turkish coast guard took down Greek flag from an Aegean islet.

Yildirim had indicated that the islet was in a "disputed area" in the Aegean, a concept that Greece rejects.

The Turkish coastguard has removed a Greek flag that had been raised on an islet in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of the Turkish resort town of Didim, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday.

Turkey has removed a Greek flag planted on a rocky islet in the Aegean Sea, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, urging Athens to refrain from "provocative moves" that would further escalate tension between the two neighbors.

The decision to fire warning shots at a Turkish helicopter near the Aegean islet of Ro on Monday was, according to a government source, a message to Ankara that despite its strategy of non-escalation, Athens is also determined to defend its sovereign rights. Greece, the same source said, must demonstrate that there are limits to what it will tolerate within its territory.

The Turkish prime minister's office has denied an incident involving a lights-out Turkish helicopter flight off Greece's eastern Aegean islet of Ro, Hurriyet reports quoting sources.

Earlier Tuesday, Maximos Mansion confirmed the late Monday incident, which prompted Greek troops to fire tracer rounds as a warning, adding however that the helicopter did not violate Greece's airspace.

The prime minister's office reacted to Monday's incident near Ro saying that the Turkish helicopter was flying near the eastern Aegean islet with its navigation lights out, but did not violate Greece's airspace.

The lights-out flight ostensibly occurred in the context of "safe provocativeness," it said, adding that such tactics carry the risk of potential accidents.

A Turkish helicopter flew around the perimeter of the eastern Greek islet of Ro, west of the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo, at a low altitude late on Monday, Kathimerini reported. 

The helicopter left the area after Greek troops reportedly responded by firing tracer rounds as a warning.

Athens issued a stern message to Ankara on Saturday, stressing that the Imia islets are Greek and there is no question about their sovereignty.

"The legal status of Imia is firmly established," the Greek Foreign Ministry said, adding that "Greek sovereignty over Imia is a given and beyond doubt."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu continued the belligerent rhetoric against Greece by claiming there were no clearly delineated sea borders in the Aegean Sea.