Greece accuses Turkey of air patrols over inhabited islands

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has made a formal protest to Turkey involving accusations that the fellow-NATO member conducted unauthorized military flights over inhabited Greek islands. Greece’s Foreign Ministry called the alleged actions “an unacceptable provocation.” Turkey’s ambassador to Athens was summoned to the ministry on Wednesday to receive the complaint in person. Neighbors Greece and Turkey have long-standing sea and air boundary disputes that intensified with moves to explore potential undersea natural gas reserves. The disagreement has resulted in near-daily air force patrols and interception missions, mostly in disputed airspace around Greek islands that are near Turkey’s coastline. Turkey did not immediately respond publicly to Wednesday’s complaint.