Nato helps Greece and Turkey agree steps to avoid conflict

Turkey’s research vessel, Oruc Reis, anchored off the coast of Antalya in the Mediterranean (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)

Greece and Turkey have agreed to safety measures aimed at preventing stand-offs between their warships and military aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea from breaking out into open conflict, Nato said.

Tensions between the neighbours and alliance members ran high for several weeks in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey was prospecting the seabed for potential energy reserves in an area Greece claims as its own continental shelf. But things have eased in recent days.