ANKARA - Turkish and Greek gunboats faced off again Saturday near an uninhabited islet in the Aegean Sea, in a new flare-up of a dispute that came close to starting a war in 1996, Anatolia news agency reported.
It was the second incident in less than two weeks between the two neighbours, who are officially allies within NATO but have a long history of disputes over territorial rights and their boundaries in the Aegean.
Quoting Turkish foreign ministry officials, Anatolia said a Turkish coastguard vessel had been dispatched to deal with two Greek trawlers that had entered Turkish waters.
Greece responded by sending two gunboats to the scene, the semi-official agency said.
The vessels finally returned to their respective ports after several hours.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, questioned by journalists, described the incident as "nothing", according to the NTV television channel.
Greek junior foreign minister Evripides Stylides warned that "such incidents do not facilitate Turkey's entry to the European Union," when he addressed a press conference Saturday at the end of a meeting of Black Sea countries at Komotini, northern Greece.
According to Anatolia's Greek counterpart, the Athens News Agency (ANA), the Turkish vessel was in the area of the disputed islet for three hours before leaving at around 1020 GMT.
ANA said that another Turkish boat carrying journalists arrived at the scene around 0930 GMT.
On April 12 a Greek fishing boat allegedly violated Turkish territorial waters near the islet known as Kardak to the Turks and Imia to the Greeks, situated between Turkey's Bodrum peninsula and the Greek island of Kalimnos.
Each side's coastguard dispatched a boat to the area.
Gul and his Greek counterpart Petros Molyviatis, who was visiting Ankara, settled the standoff in talks at which they agreed on steps to ease tensions, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan said.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, in Athens on Monday, had reminded Turkey that smooth relations with Greece are part of the conditions for its entry into the EU.
Greece for its part has promised "severe" punishment for those responsible for vandalizing a Turkish flag and leaving it in the room of Turkish army officers visiting a Greek military school in Athens earlier this month.
The Turkish army chief has demanded an official apology from Greece.
A Greek foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday that Greece is firmly behind efforts to mend Greek-Turkish relations in line with "the need for stability, peace and cooperation between countries in the region," especially in light of Turkey's desire to open talks on joining the EU.
04/23/2005 13:29 GMT