Islands

Three earthquakes kept residents in eastern Crete and the nearby islands of Kasos and Karpathos in the southern Aegean on alert in the early hours of Friday, though the tremors were moderate and did not cause any damage.

Deputy Defense Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis said on Thursday that Greece is maintaining dialogue with Turkey but that the country's armed forces are on standby.

"Diplomacy is the first choice," he told Skai radio. "We have open channels of communication but the armed forces are ready to do what is necessary in coordination with the Foreign Ministry," he added.

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has denied reports widely circulated in the Greek media on Thursday alleging that he had challenged claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding Imia islets.
A statement from the Defense Ministry said Panagiotopoulos "never made such a statement."

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos rejected on Thursday claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he sent a message to Greece through Defense Minister Hulusi Akar not to make any "move" over the eastern Aegean islets of Imia, for which the two countries were brought to the brink of war twenty-four years ago.

Continuing a trend of provocative statements, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday indirectly disputed the status of the Imia islets in the Aegean Sea, over which Greece and Turkey nearly went to war in 1996, and of other islands too ahead of a telephone conversation between the two countries' defense ministers.

Main opposition SYRIZA slammed the government over its management of relations with Turkey and demanded that it respond to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement that he hopes that Greece does not approach Aegean islands the sovereignty of which Ankara disputes, just as the Greek military this year did not approach the Imia islets on the anniversary of the crisis that brought the tw

Twenty-four years after the Imia crisis brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday warned Athens against making any "move" over the eastern Aegean islets whose sovereignty is disputed by Ankara.

The relatively limited need for foreign assistance following last week's earthquake in Turkey did not provide an opportunity for it to act as icebreaker between Athens and Ankara - given, of course, that certain parties were thus inclined.

The strong earthquake that hit Turkey could thaw the recently frosty relationship between the two neighbors, making a rapprochement with Greece possible, if certain leaders want it.

Relations among countries always evolve in certain environments. And the tragedy that's hit the neighboring creatres such a new, yet familiar, one.

The escalation of a crisis in relations between Athens and Ankara typically leads to negotiation; this is understood by both sides, as protracting a clash creates the risk of a potential military confrontation which Greece certainly does not want and Turkey most likely would not desire either.