After Turkish provocations, EC calls on Ankara to respect member states

Turkey's escalating rhetoric with regard to Greece's sovereignty over islets in the eastern Aegean drew a stern response from the European Commission on Friday which called on Ankara "to respect the sovereignty of EU member-states over their sea and air space."

Speaking to reporters, European Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said that the EU is urging Turkey to avoid any kind of "source of friction, threat or action directed against a member-state, which damages good-neighborly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes."

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the eastern Aegean Imia islets are "Turkish soil," while a few days earlier the leader of the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu urged the Turkish government to "take back" 18 islets in the Aegean Sea.

The Greek Foreign Ministry had described...