The Foreign Ministry released a statement late Thursday, in which the Aegean islets issue was addressed by the spokesman Ambassador Hüseyin Müftüoğlu. The ministry stated that Turkey expects prudence from Greece in "such a sensitive matter."

"The Greek deputy Minister of Shipping and Island Policy stated that his government plans to build settlements on 28 small islets in the Aegean. Nevertheless, he failed to tell the names of the islets. We have declared several times that we will not accept possible de facto circumstances that were created by Greek policy on disputed geographical formations," the ministry said in the statement.

Tthe tension between Turkish and Greek coast guard units has recently escalated on January 2 over the islets of Kardak, also known as Imia, in the Aegean Sea after 10 Greek fishing boats violated Turkish territorial waters, at 09:00 a.m. (06:00 a.m. GMT).

Turkish coast guard boats contained Greek fishing boats and prevented them from dropping anchor in the Kardak islets, located 3.5 miles off Turkey's Aegean coast, forcing them to return to their own territorial waters.

Both Turkish and Greek coast guard units are reportedly maintaining their positions as the tense wait continues.