North Aegean islands

A high-risk fire warning remains in place for a second day for Attica, parts of Central Greece, much of Evia as well as the northern Aegean islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria.

Experts and locals of the Bozcaada district of northwestern province of Çanakkale are worried that a shipwreck that had been dismantled on the shores of the Beylik Bay may have polluted the area with asbestos and heavy metals, daily Cumhuriyet reported on July 12.

The reduced value-added tax regime for the five islands of the northeastern Aegean most affected by the refugee crisis will apply until the end of the year, according to the announcement published in the government gazette on Saturday.

The favorable tax rates, that will affect the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros, were due to expire today (June 30).

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the government is freezing a planned VAT hike in five islands of the northeastern Aegean that have borne the brunt of the refugee crisis, saying it is "a very positive development."

The freeze will affect the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros, which were due to adopt in July the higher tax rates implemented on the mainland. 

A caretta caretta, which was treated in Istanbul after it had been found off the Gökçeada Island in the northwestern province of Çanakkale, has been released back to the sea. 

Locals of the Aegean island of Bozcaada off Turkey's northwestern province of Çanakkale have been crying out against the poisoning of animals on the island, demanding authorities to capture the perpetrators.

Protesters rock a riot police bus outside a venue where Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to speak at a regional conference in the town of Mytilene on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos, on Thursday, May 3, 2018. Local residents responded to the visit with closed stores and strikes, in a protest against the overcrowded refugee camps on the island and the imminent rises in VAT.

The European Commission on Wednesday approved a one-year extension to a special visa agreement between Greece and Turkey that allows Turks who want to visit seven Greek islands to apply for a visa directly at their destination.

Turkish overflights in the Aegean continued on Sunday with two fighter jets entering Athens's FIR, ignoring an informal moratorium on military activity that is customary between Greece and Turkey during major religious holidays.

All violations were carried out by two Turkish F-16 jets which flew over the Oinousses complex, a cluster of small islands in the northeastern Aegean.

Turkish overflights in the Aegean continued on Sunday with two fighter jets entering Athens's FIR, ignoring an informal moratorium on military activity that is customary between Greece and Turkey during major religious holidays.

All violations were carried out by two Turkish F-16 jets which flew over the Oinousses complex, a cluster of small islands in the northeastern Aegean.