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Greece Puts Navy on Alert as Turkey Tensions Flare Again

Anthee Carassava

   ATHENS, GREECE - Greece's navy has issued a code orange alert, advising
   battleships to surround a cluster of tiny islands in the southeast
   Aegean Sea and prepare for potential hostile action from Turkey. The
   dangerous standoff is further complicating efforts by the United States
   and the European Union to get the two sides to negotiate a maritime
   settlement.

   Greece's defense ministry on Wednesday released pictures of what Greek
   officials called a "protective wall," illustrating what it called the
   severity of the looming standoff with Turkey.
   Military officials tell VOA Greek gunboats circled the Kastellorizo and
   a number of uninhabited islands, in a move they said is meant to shield
   Greek territory against Turkish attempts to survey disputed waters for
   oil and gas.
   Ankara redeployed the Oruc Reis survey ship earlier this month just
   weeks after it had recalled it from a similar mission that nearly
   brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war over energy rights in the
   eastern Mediterranean.

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