Turkey calls on Greece to withdraw from Aegean islands
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Turkey is determined to question the sovereignty of the Aegean islands if the Greek authorities do not put an end to their "violations".
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint news conference with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani, in Manama, Bahrain, January 31, 2022 (Reuters)
Greece militarizing islands in the eastern Aegean Sea constitutes a violation of long-standing international treaties, and the continuation of this violation will bring up the islands' sovereignty for discussion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.
"The sovereignty of the islands will be questioned if (Greece) does not end its violation", Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara alongside his North Macedonian counterpart, Bujar Osmani.
Athens' actions did not surprise Ankara, Cavusoglu said, noting that Turkey and Greece have "many differences" between them.
The Aegean islands had been given to Greece as part of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris on the condition of demilitarization, with any troops or weapons being strictly forbidden on the island.
"This status of the islands has been violated by Greece", Cavusoglu stressed, urging the latter to abide by international law.
The top Turkish diplomat rebuffed Athens' "accusations and baseless allegations" of Turkey having an expansionist policy.
"Since [Greece] cannot respond to our questions about the status of the islands, they opt for demagogic rhetoric", he claimed, hoping that Athens would come around and act "in a principled manner."
Turkey, over the past few months, has been highly vocal in criticizing Greece's stationing of troops on islands in the eastern Aegean sea.
