Evangelos Apostolakis

Turkish overflights in the Aegean continued on Thursday with two fighter jets entering Athens's FIR at 8.42 a.m., Skai TV reported.

The F-16 jets flew at just 4,000 feet over the small island of Kastelorizo in the eastern Mediterranean, shortly after Defense Minister Panos Kammenos' visit to a military outpost on the island.

With Ankara repeatedly disputing Greece's sovereignty in the Aegean, the chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, warned on Wednesday that Greece will 'flatten' any Greek islet in the event that Turkish forces land there.

The chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, said on Wednesday that if Turkish forces land on a rocky islet in the Aegean, it will be "flattened."

"If they land on an islet, we will flatten it. And this is a red line that is adopted by the government as well," he was quoted as telling journalists during a briefing in Athens.

The Greek government has high hopes for the outcome of a much-vaunted US-Greece Strategic Dialogue which is to take place in Washington on Thursday between senior Greek and American officials, focusing on regional defense, security and energy. 

A ceremony took place at the Papagou military camp in Athens on Friday to welcome the inspector general of the German Armed Forces, Eberhard Zorn, who was on an official visit to Greece.

The results of Tuesday's meeting between the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General Joseph Dunford and Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis were hailed on Wednesday by the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) as a reaffirmation of its policy positions on US-Greek defense cooperation.

The United States is interested in increasing its use of military bases and ports in Greece, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the second day of his official visit to the country on Tuesday.

Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, started an official two-day visit to Greece on Monday.

The top US military officer is undertaking the visit following an invitation from the chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis.

Greece's Defense Minister and the head of the Armed Forces announced they are lifting the suspension on some confidence-building activities with Turkey, after the neighboring country released two Greek soldiers held in pre-trial detention for 167 days.

The chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, is to remain under medical observation for the next two weeks following his admission to a military hospital last week for tests. 

The armed forces chief was admitted to the hospital last Thursday after complaining of feeling unwell.