Turkey summons Greek ambassador and information protest with US amid Aegean islands row, whereas Greece slams newest transfer as ‘unfounded’.
Ankara has summoned the Greek ambassador and protested to Washington after accusing Greece of deploying United States armoured autos on two Aegean islands close to the Turkish coast.
Greece branded the transfer on Monday as “fully unfounded”, and accused Ankara of aggressive behaviour.
Greece and Turkey, that are each a part of the US-led NATO defence alliance, have feuded for years over maritime borders and power exploration rights within the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas.
The newest escalation began when Turkish safety sources shared aerial photographs over the weekend purportedly exhibiting ships loaded with US armoured autos docking at two Greek islands, Lesbos and Samos.
The Turkish international ministry instructed the Greek envoy that Athens ought to “cease violations” and respect the non-military standing the islands have been assigned by worldwide regulation, the Anadolu state information company reported.
In a notice to the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey instructed Washington that its “weapons shouldn’t be utilized in breach” of the islands’ agreed standing, Anadolu stated.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan individually accused Greece of staging “provocations” and enjoying “perilous video games”.
Athens rejected Ankara’s objections as “fully unfounded and incompatible with worldwide regulation”, AFP information company reported a Greek diplomatic supply as saying.
The supply added that the Greek ambassador, Christodoulos Lazaris, had written two letters to UN Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres to set out his nation’s stance intimately.
‘Defend our nation’s rights’
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Greece of “occupying” the Aegean islands, whose standing was settled in treaties adopted after World Conflict I.
In response, Athens accuses Turkey of conducting a whole bunch of unlawful army sorties over the islands.
The Greek diplomatic supply stated Turkey had threatened its neighbour with struggle, accusing it of assembling an enormous naval presence and violating Greece’s sovereignty and airspace.
Greece filed a proper criticism with the European Union, NATO and the United Nations after Erdogan hinted at a potential army operation within the Aegean earlier this month.
Erdogan continued his confrontation on Monday, saying Greece was not Turkey’s equal and rejecting diplomatic talks.
“We won’t fail to defend our nation’s rights and pursuits in opposition to Greece through the use of all of the means at our disposal, when needed,” Erdogan stated following a cupboard assembly.
Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of points, together with territorial claims within the Aegean Sea and disputes over the airspace there. The disputes have introduced them to the brink of struggle 3 times within the final half-century.
A Greek authorities official instructed The Related Press information company that Greece “absolutely respects” its worldwide obligations, including that the Greek ambassador instructed his interlocutors that “Greece isn’t the nation that’s threatening its neighbour with struggle or assembling a big touchdown power on its shoreline as Turkey has executed”.
The official added that Turkey “continues to violate Greece’s sovereignty with its steady violations of its airspace and overflights of Greek territory.”
The official, who was not authorised to talk publicly to the information media, made the remarks on situation of anonymity.