Turkey, Greece agree to settle tensions through dialogue after vessels collision – Ankara

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said Ankara and Athens have agreed to settle current tensions through dialogue. The statement came a day after a Greek coast guard vessel was damaged in a collision with a Turkish patrol boat in the Aegean Sea, AP said. According to Yildirim, he told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a late Tuesday telephone call that Greece must refrain from acts that strain ties, adding that the Aegean should be a “sea of friendship.” He added that an agreement was reached “that as of now [tensions] are settled politically and diplomatically in a more calm way, through mutual understanding and with the channels of dialogue constantly open.” Greek and Turkish military chiefs will meet on the margins of a NATO meeting in Brussels in May, Yildirim said.