Athens on standby for possible moves by Turkey
Greece remained on alert over the long Easter weekend with its coast guard and navy on standby, due to concerns that Turkey may escalate tensions either in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean or at the Evros land border in order to divert attention from the domestic problems faced by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Athens’ state of alert is dictated by the transfer of migrants from inland Turkey to areas on the coast facing the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios, Kos and Kastellorizo over the past two weeks, as well as Turkish aircraft flying over large inhabited Greek islands.
Meanwhile, the Akinturk vessel, suspected of being part of plans to transfer migrants to Greece, has not yet moved to the Aegean area, despite the fact that it had initially announced a route from Tasucu (facing Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus) to Aliaga in Izmir.
