In recent weeks, EU members have raised the prospect of sanctions against Turkey over its gas exploration missions in the eastern Mediterranean.

The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that Pompeo would travel to Istanbul to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Greek Orthodox Christians.

Leaders from around the Muslim world also added their voices to criticism of what they see as attacks on Islam in the West, while France vowed not to back away from its defence of the freedom of expression.

In a tweet Monday afternoon, Foreign Affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne said that Canada stood "in solidarity with our French friends."

The law requires foreign social media sites to appoint Turkish-based representatives to address authorities' concerns over content and includes deadlines for removal of material they take exception to.

Turkey's high administrative court threw its weight behind a petition brought by a religious group and annulled the 1934 Cabinet decision that turned the site into a museum.

The clashes were near the border village of Kastanies, along a border fence that covers much of the land border not demarcated by the Evros river running along the frontier.

Many of those hoping to enter Greece were trying their luck by wading or rowing across the Evros River that runs along most of the length of the Turkish frontier.

NATO envoys held emergency talks at the request of Turkey, a NATO member, and scores of migrants began converging on Turkey’s border with Greece.

The agreement came after about four hours of talks at the chancellery in Berlin.