Evangelos Apostolakis

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly sent a letter of congratulations to Hellenic National Defense General Staff Evangelos Apostolakis for his appointment as Greek minister of defense after Panos Kammenos broke from the government coalition earlier this month and stepped down from the role.

Greece's Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) on Friday appointed Lieutenant General Christos Christodoulou as the new chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), after Evangelos Apostolakis left the post to become Defense Minister.

Newly appointed Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis said Turkey should choose between "the path of collision and the path of cooperation" with Greece in his first statement in a handover ceremony at the ministry earlier on Tuesday.

Newly appointed Defense Minister and former Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff Evangelos Apostolakis looks on during his swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Athens, Monday. [Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

Receiving Hellenic Armed Forces Commander Evangelos Apostolakis at the Maximos Mansion on Monday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras described his appointment of the military chief to defense minister, replacing outgoing junior coalition partner Panos Kammenos, as "a clear message on both the foreign and domestic level."

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament after the resignation of Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, leader of junior partner Independent Greeks, over the FYROM name deal.

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.

Turkey will not tolerate "provocations" in the Aegean, the Mediterranean or Cyprus, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Saturday.

"All should know that provocations in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Cyprus will have no effect," Akar was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

"Or the price will be heavy," Akar added, according to the report.

Greece will not seek to imitate Turkey's escalating rhetoric and provocations, Alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos said on Friday after chairing a meeting of the National Council for Foreign Affairs (ESEP) to discuss deteriorating relations with Ankara.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Thursday reiterated a warning that his country will not relinquish its rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, responding to comments by the Greek chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff. 

Akar said Turkey has taken all necessary precautions "not to allow any faits accomplis in the Aegean and the Mediterranean."