The Athens government on Wednesday charged that a Turkish patrol boat operating in Greek territorial waters off the eastern Aegean island of Kos rammed a coast guard vessel in the early morning hours.
According to the relevant shipping and island policy minister, whose portfolio includes the Hellenic coast guard, the action was a "provocative and dangerous violation of the rules of international law" by the Turkish side.
According to Minister Yannis Plakiotakis, the aim was the "cause an incident in the Aegean".
Hours later in the Greek capital, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said the Turkish ambassador to Greece was summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.
Petsas added that Greece's allies in the EU and NATO, where Turkey is also member, are being briefed over the situation.
Additionally, he decried the latest inflammatory statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who claimed that Greek security forces on the frontier were Turkey were behaving towards third country nationals attempting to break into the country in a fashion similar to Nazis during WWII.
"We will continue to do our job, which is to protect the border of Greece and Europe," Petsas said.
The ultra-sensative "Nazi" metaphor by Erdogan, aimed mostly at a domestic audience in Turkey, raised eyebrows around the world, with American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris taking to his official Twitter account to reprimand Ankara, and in reply to Turkish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Yavuz Kiran.
In two Tweets, Harris noted that "...For Turkish official to compare Greece w/ Nazi Germany is beyond vile. While Turkey was neutral in WW2, Greece fought Nazis & paid heavy price. And has he no awareness of Auschwitz - its gas chambers & crematoria? Turkey, stop using migrants as pawns in war against Greece/EU..."
In reply to Kiran's protest, he added that "...I am grateful for every Jew saved in Holocaust. But you: -Compare #Greece, which valiantly opposed Germany in WW2, to the Nazis -Sidestep Turkey’s neutrality till WW2 nearly ended -Invoke #Auschwitz, a unique place of horror, for a totally false comparison Please reconsider."
