The former editor in chief of the English version of Turkish “Zaman” newspaper, Abdullah Bozkurt posted a tweet on his account warning of increased clandestine operations of Turkish intelligence agents in Greece. The journalist, who was accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having close ties with exiled religious leader Fetullah Gulen who was blamed for the failed 2016 military coup, cited sources in his tweet that the number of operatives in Greece had escalated while wondering whether something was being plotted by the Turkish government against Greece.

Meanwhile, Athens correspondent for British Guardian, Helena Smith reported that tensions between Ankara and Athens were on the rise in the wake of the Turkish referendum. “The animus – reinforced last week when the leader said he would continue labelling European politicians “Nazis” if they continued calling him a dictator – has also animated tensions between Greece and Turkey, and Erdoğan’s comments came hours after the Greek defence minister said armed forces were ready to respond in the event of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity being threatened.

“The Greek armed forces are ready to answer any provocation,” Panos Kammenos declared at a military parade marking the 196th anniversary of Greece’s war of liberation against Ottoman Turkish rule. “We are ready because that is how we defend peace”, reported the British journalist. The report continued by recounting the stages that have led to the steady escalations in relations between the two countries and the possibility of a military accident in the Aegean Sea.