TURKEY was urged to cease making threats and engaging in actions detrimental to good neighbourly relations by the EU today amid increased tensions with Greece. 

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said Ankara “must respect the sovereignty, territorial waters and airspace of all European Union member states.”

Turkey was warned that it must take steps to avoid escalating hostilities with Greece or the EU would be forced to consider its response. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Athens to demilitarise Greek islands to comply with international treaties that he says guarantee their unarmed status.

But Greece insists that it is within its rights to defend itself and says that Turkey has misinterpreted the treaties. 

The Nato allies have both accused each other of provocative flights by fighter jets encroaching their airspace. 

Tensions escalated further on Wednesday when Turkey’s bullish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Greece of sponsoring terrorists. 

He made the same claims against France, Germany, Sweden and Finland in the same speech.

Earlier this week, a Greek MP accused the government of turning the country into a “huge US base as Washington expands its military presence.” 

European Realistic Disobedience Front lawmaker Kleon Grigoriadis said that an atmosphere of war with Turkey has been whipped up in the press to make acceptable the conversion of Greece into a US military base. 

“At the moment, American soldiers, not Turkish soldiers, are wandering in Crete, Alexandroupoli, Larisa, and other areas left by (the left-wing party) Syriza’s old comrades to the United States.

“Let’s be clear: Greece has now turned into a huge US base,” he said.