Greece accuses Turkey of delaying foreign minister's plane

Greeceaccused Turkey on Thursday of deliberately holding up a government aircraft carrying its foreign minister Nikos Dendias home from Iraq, leaving it circling for 20 minutes before granting it permission to cross Turkish airspace.

Turkey denied the accusation, saying the aircraft had taken off from Iraq without a flight plan but had been allowed to pass once one was procured.

The incident comes amid renewed tensions between Greece and Turkey over sea boundaries and energy drilling rights, after Ankara redeployed its search vessel, Oruc Reis, this week for a new energy exploration mission in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean.

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Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas saidGreece's foreign ministry had sent a demarche to Turkish authorities on the incident.

"It is one more provocation in a series of provocations from the Turkish side," Petsas told reporters, adding, "but we will remain on the fact that various explanations were given by the Turkish side, and we hope this phenomenon, and this event, will never be repeated again in the future."

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy dismissed the suggestion that the plane carrying Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias had been deliberately held up as a provocation to Athens.

"The plane in question took off from Iraq without presenting a flight plan. When the plane entered our air space, a flight plan was urgently requested from Iraqi authorities, and the flight was safely carried out after the plan was received," he said.

He said Turkey had granted permission to a Greek request for the minister's plane to pass over its air space en route to Iraq on October 14.

After that plane malfunctioned in Iraq,Greecesent a second aircraft which was also granted permission to fly through Turkish air space, "with the same flight permission number, without any delay", Aksoy said.

Separately on Thursday, France and Germany accused Turkey of continuing to provoke the European Union with its actions in the eastern Mediterranean, and gave it a week to clarify its positions.

Despite an EU summit deal on Oct. 2 aimed at persuading Ankara to stop exploring for natural gas in waters disputed byGreeceand Cyprus, Turkey said on Wednesday it was restarting operations of a survey ship.

The European Union said it would review the possibility of sanctions on Turkey at a European summit in December.

EU leaders are to meet in Brussels on Thursday, whereGreeceis expected to raise the gas dispute issue.