Erdogan calls for demilitarisation of Greek islands

Ankara is maintaining its high-pitched rhetoric towards Greece, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bringing up once again the issue of the demilitarisation of Greek islands on Wednesday afternoon (2/9).

“Greece must abandon the wrong course it has followed; it must stop arming islands that have a demilitarised status,” the Turkish president said, upon his return from Kyrgyzstan, where he participated in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

According to Erdogan, “those who interpret Turkey’s calm and reasonable approach as weakness are making a serious mistake.”

The Turkish president claimed that Turkey is doing everything necessary so that Turkey and Greece can move forward on the basis of good neighbourly relations. “We have been the constructive side. However, most of the time we have not seen a reciprocal response to our good intentions.”

“Ignoring and violating international treaties will not benefit anyone,” he stressed, adding that “Turkey has no ambitions regarding anyone’s territory, but it will not allow anyone to violate its own rights.”

Ankara’s diplomatic note with warnings over the Aegean

A short time earlier, Turkey delivered a diplomatic note to the Greek authorities outlining its views and objections regarding Greece’s recent actions, according to diplomatic sources cited by the newspaper Milliyet.

According to the same sources, the statement says that no activity that changes the status quo in the Aegean will be permitted.

The diplomatic note highlights the cross-border, environmental and other impacts of these initiatives and explicitly states that “the promotion of maximalist claims under the pretext of environmental planning is unacceptable.”

“Turkey’s rights, interests and natural legal status are not affected by the consequences of the unilateral steps planned by Greece,” Ankara’s note states, adding that “international law encourages cooperation in closed and semi-enclosed seas.”

The diplomatic note records that any de facto situations “that may be attempted in geographical formations in the Aegean, whose sovereignty has not been transferred to Greece through international treaties,” will not be accepted.

It also reiterates Turkey’s long-standing position that maritime borders in the Aegean can only be determined through an agreement reached in a fair manner and taking into account all relevant conditions.