Turkey ups ante, Greece avoids escalating tension

The government is treading carefully, aiming not to further escalate tensions with Ankara after a Turkish gunboat carrying Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar sailed into Greek waters and around the Imia islets on Sunday.

The Turkish Yeni Safak conservative daily, known for its hardline support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, later released images and video footage of "the new tension at Imia" showing Akar on the gunboat, with the islets in the background.

Greek diplomatic sources believe the incident was masterminded by Erdogan, who appears to have taken personally the Greek justice system's decision last week not to meet Ankara's request for the extradition of eight Turkish officers who fled to Greece in July.

Greece is concerned that Turkey's leadership cannot fathom the fact that its requests for the officers' extradition were impossible for the Greek courts...