Turkey warns Greece over Aegean islands issue -Turkey registered a prote

Ankara: ‘We will not fail to defend our country’s rights and interests against Greece by using all the means at our disposal, when necessary,’ warned Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey had accused Greece of violating international law by illegally militarising the Aegean islands hours earlier. Also, the Ambassador of Greece had been summoned. Turkey has also condemned the US by releasing photographs of Greece deploying US military vehicles on these islands.

In addition, the Aegean marine region is another cause of contention between Greece and Turkey. Turkish destroyers and patrol boats patrol in the Greek maritime area. Greece had earlier accused Turkey of trying to take control of Greece’s sovereign maritime zone through this. Besides, Greece had raised the issue of aggression of the Turkish destroyers in the European Union and the United Nations.

Moreover, Turkey had accused Greece of starting to militarise the Aegean Sea. Turkey criticised the Greek warplanes’ dangerous flight over Turkish airspace a few days ago. Furthermore, two days ago, the Turkish army released drone photographs and made a fresh accusation that Greece had mobilised its forces on the Aegean islands. The Turkish military has said the Greek army made new deployments to the Aegean islands last week.

The Turkish army claimed to have deployed military vehicles on Alexandroupolis Island, 23 armoured vehicles on Midili Island, and 18 on Sisam Island. Turkey’s military criticised Greece for deploying US-gifted military vehicles to the islands. Turkey has appealed to the United Nations to take action, saying that Greece’s action violates international law. However, Turkey’s President Erdogan took a more aggressive stance and warned Greece. Erdogan threatened that Turkey would use all its forces to protect the rights and interests of its country. Erdogan further cautioned that Greece’s policies were provocative and that military actions in the Aegean Sea dragged Greece into the quagmire. He said that this militarisation would be dangerous for Greece, the leaders of Greece and the people of this country.

Meanwhile, last week there were reports that Turkey has started efforts to get membership in the ‘Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-SCO’. European journalists said that the President of Turkey discussed this with the Presidents of Russia and China in the meeting held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. European journalists accuse Turkey of breaking away from NATO, eager to join the SCO.