Greece and Turkey: Conflict over Aegean islands comes to a head

Turkey and Greece have long disputed the status of Greek islands in the Aegean. With deployments and maneuvers, concern grows that a military confrontation is looming.

The Greek armed forces had brought around 40 armored vehicles to the Aegean islands of Lesvos and Samos, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported, citing security circles – this would be evidenced by recordings by Turkish drones. The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Greek ambassador on Monday and accused his country of violating the islands’ demilitarized status.

As reported by the Greek Foreign Ministry, the ambassador accused Turkey of illegally flying over Greek territory with its drones. Turkey is looking for a casus belli, a reason for war, the ambassador said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Greece of provoking Turkey.

Erdogan accuses Greece of hate speech

While Turkey is busy resolving the world’s wars, crises and tensions, neighboring Greece has nothing to do but agitate and provoke, Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

With its provocations, the Greek government wants to waste Turkey’s time and energy in order to prevent the country’s rise – he knows that very well, said Erdogan. According to the Anadolu news agency, Ankara also sent a protest note to the United States. The government called on Washington to take action to protect the islands’ demilitarized status. Erdogan also addressed the Americans in his speech.

This game is dangerous not only for the Greek people, said the Turkish president, but also for those who would use them as puppets.

Greece calls Erdogan unpredictable

According to information from diplomatic circles, there is growing concern in Athens that a military confrontation is actually looming. Turkish fighter bombers invaded Greek airspace almost a hundred times on Monday alone, officials said. Twice they flew over Greek islands and twice involved Greek planes in simulated fights – so-called dogfights. The Turkish President poured more fuel on the fire with his statements.

He wants to remind Greece once again what price the Greek people and their leadership paid 100 years ago when Turkey defeated its armed forces in the Turkish Liberation War, Erdogan said. In Athens it was said that the Turkish President was now completely unpredictable. The Greek government alerted Washington, Paris and Berlin.

It’s about four islands

Turkey and Greece have been at odds over the status of islands in the northeast Mediterranean for years. A war between the two NATO countries almost broke out in 1996 simply because of an uninhabited rocky island.

This time there is much more at stake: the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria off Turkey’s west coast, and the Dodecanese islands, which are also close to Turkey’s coast and belong to Greece – the largest of which is Rhodes.

Turkey has accused Greece of violating conditions under which it received the islands after the world wars and is therefore questioning Greece’s claim to the islands.