8 minutes agoNew clash between Greece and Turkey
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Greece rejected Turkish demands to demilitarise 16 Aegean islands. The Turkish government said it protects its rights and that it remains committed to negotiations, but analysts warn that <x0-diplomacy” increasingly severe Turkey is threatening to isolate Ankara and scale regional tensions. “Greece does not provoke, does not violate rights [...]
“Greece does not provoke, does not violate the sovereign rights of others, but does not like to violate its rights,” Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotoopoulos said on Saturday.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulus Akar accused Greece on Wednesday of holding troops in the islands, in opposition to the 1936 Lausanne Treaty, which stipulates rules on the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.
The dispute dates back to 1974, when Athens began to militarize islands off Turkish coast in response to Turkey's conquest of Cyprus after a pro-Greek coup.
The Akar minister's focus on this dispute is widely viewed as part of a broader policy. “Turkey is today seeking the deilitarisation of the islands, when [there is] an extraordinary historical increase in the number of Turkish aircraft that violates Greek airspace,” says political scholar Cengiz Aktar at the University of Athens.
“is a message that Turkey is an aggressive force in the eastern Mediterranean, and Turkey gives the impression that it wants a heated conflict with its neighbour, Greece,” He says.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan further fuelled tensions, announcing that Turkish research ships will be deployed in the controversial Cypriot waters to seek oil and gas.
The discovery of large natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean from Israel and Cyprus has sparked a clash between countries in the region for fossil fuels.
Ankara accuses Greece and other regional countries of seeking to exclude it from these large energy reserves.
We will not allow anyone to violate our rights in any way. This is no threat,” said Mr. Akar on Wednesday, adding, “It is not a weakness to say that we want good relations with our neighbor. ”
“The strategy Turkey is pursuing is that it must protect its legitimate rights in the Mediterranean,”, former Turkish Ambassador Mithat Rende said. “The strategy is to have a fair solution to the issue. And Turkey has clarified that it is willing to talk. ”
The force-backed diplomacy policy, however, seems to be returning. Athens is trying to promote its European Union partners to hold Ankara.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday and will then go to Brussels for talks with European Council President Charles Michel in an effort to secure support against Ankara. / VoA
