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Turkey accused Greece of piracy and threatened to react to Athens’ alleged efforts to militarize the islands off the Turkish coast. The accusations made Monday come after the Turkish press claimed that Greek soldiers were sent to the island of Kastelorizo (Meis, after the Turkish name), in violation of international treaties, the NY Times notes.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened the Greeks with war on Sunday, warning that his country was ready to “martyr.”
“When it comes to fighting, we do not hesitate to give martyrs (…) The problem is this: are those who rise up against us in the Mediterranean and the Middle East ready for the same sacrifices?” Erdogan said. “Do the Greek people accept the stakes due to their greedy and incompetent leaders?” Erdogan said.
A spokesman for the ruling party described as “piracy” the fact that Greece sent troops to the island of Kastelorizo, two kilometers off the coast of Turkey and 600 kilometers from mainland Greece.
“Aiming weapons at the coast of Turkey is crazy,” he warned.
The Turks are demanding that islands are not taken into account when delimiting maritime borders, so that the surrounding waters can be explored and used by the country led by Erdogan, in a sustained effort to find natural resources. They claim that the Greeks would like to unfairly take a large part of the resources of the eastern Mediterranean.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman also said Sunday night that if the transfer of troops to the island is true, it would mean a violation of a 1947 treaty and “new evidence of the illegalities and true intentions of Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean. “.
“We emphasize that we will not allow such a challenge, right off our shore. If they continue to take measures that increase tension in the region, the one that will lose will be Greece, “said the foreign minister.
The Greek government did not react publicly, but defense officials said that the soldiers had been sent to Kastelorizo as part of the regular rotation of troops and that no military force was being built on the island.
However, the Greeks claim that they have every right to deploy defense forces when the country is threatened.
