While repeated references to “rapprochement” and a “positive agenda” now dominate back-and-forth statements between Athens and Ankara, the more-or-less calm situation in the eastern Aegean was briefly interrupted on Friday afternoon by a 10-minute “standoff” off the Imia islets.
According to reports, a Turkish coast guard patrol boat entered Greek territorial waters for the specific period, where it was intercepted by a corresponding Hellenic Coast Guard vessel.
The incident in the specific maritime region, near the large Dodecanese island of Kalymnos, was not an isolated occurrence over the recent period, however. The same reports have the leadership of Greece’s island policy and shipping ministry, which oversees the coast guard, contacting the Turkish ministry to avoid an escalation and to end any incursion.
Conversely, Turkish media portrayed a different version of the incident, claiming that the Turkish patrol boat intercepted the Greek vessel and chased it away from “Turkish waters” in region.
One website, Sozcu, claimed the HCG patrol boat tried to approach the Imia islets four or fine times but was prevented by the Turkish boat.
