Akar: No Greek provocation will go unanswered

Turkey will not leave unanswered acts of "harassment" and "provocation" by Greece, the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday, a day after a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat was harassed by a Turkish offshore vessel. 

"We neither harass nor provoke [Greece]. But we will not leave unanswered any harassment or provocation against us," Akar said.

Notwithstanding Greece's "provocative attitude," said Akar, Turkey remains committed to dialogue and urged Athens to not turn down Ankara's "hand of friendship."