The border scandal between Greece and Turkey is taking on dangerous features: in the latest statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, clear “military rhetoric” is heard, which is intensifying time and time again. According to the Turkish newspaper Ahval, the Turkish president threatened in his latest speech that Greece will “pay a heavy price” if it “goes too far.” This is a clear hint of force actions, if they begin, will affect the most favorite European tourist resorts in both Greece and Turkey.
The central “hot spot” and the cause of the problems are still the same: territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. It can be said that Greece and Turkey cannot agree on the tourist area itself – the eastern Mediterranean and the islands of the Aegean Sea, where Greek and Turkish interests overlap.
This is primarily about some Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, where Turkey is increasing its presence. The Turkish authorities express their anger at the militarization of these islands. Turkey invokes the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris and demands that Greece’s eastern Aegean islands remain demilitarized. It says Greece has deployed troops to 16 of the 23 islands since 1936, violating international law. In Greece, in turn, they claim that the circumstances have fundamentally changed. The Greek Foreign Ministry, in turn, points out that any requirement to demilitarize any of its islands was abrogated by the 1936 Montreux Convention,
“You occupy the islands, it does not bind us. When the time comes, we will do what is necessary. As we say, one day at night we can suddenly attack,” the Turkish president said. By the way, a more likely reason than the Greek “occupation” is the gas reserves on the shelf of these islands, which Turkey is trying to explore.
We will remind you that the country’s claims go back further. Greece was recently outraged by a map where the Greek islands were marked as Turkish territory. In Greece, in turn, it was assessed as “a particularly aggressive provocative act.” After that, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at an already provocative solemn ceremony in honor of the anniversary of the capture of Constantinople, stated that Turkey’s goal is to regain all spheres of influence. He included the Peloponnese and Athens among them. And he promised Greece a “tragic end”.
It should be noted that it almost came to a “hot” collision at the end of August when it came to Turkey’s targeting of air defense systems at Greek planes, and the media already “stirred up a wave” about the missiles fired and even the downed plane. This did not happen, but the signal is extremely alarming — and Turkey continues to push the issue. “They committed 147 airspace violations. If we are neighbors if we are friends, why are you violating our airspace 147 times?” Erdogan said. Read the details in the link.