Turkey warns of 'heavy price' over 'provocations'

With relations between Athens and Ankara on a downturn, Turkey warned on Saturday that there will be a "heavy price" to pay for "provocations" in the Aegean, the Mediterranean or Cyprus.

"All should know that provocations in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Cyprus will have no effect," Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Saturday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

On Wednesday, the chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, warned that Greece will "flatten" any Greek islet in the event that Turkish forces land there. The Greek government has backed Apostolakis's stance but insisted that it will not imitate Turkey by raising tensions.

Turkish fighter jets made a total of 14 overflights on December 17 and 20 over the inhabited southeastern Aegean islands of Kastellorizo and Oinousses -...