Turkey accused Greece on Monday (August 31) of acts of " piracy " by trying to " arm " a demilitarized island located near the Turkish coast whose status is at the heart of current tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.
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Amid an escalation between Turkey and Greece, the publication last week of photos by AFP showing Greek soldiers arriving on the Greek island of Kastellorizo, located two kilometers from the Turkish coast, sparked anger from Ankara. " The Greek initiatives aimed at arming Meis (Turkish name for Kastellorizo) are a new example of piracy, " Omer Celik, spokesperson for the Islamo-conservative AKP party under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday. " Directing weapons towards the Turkish coast is foolishness, " he added on Twitter.
On Sunday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry qualified the arrival of Greek soldiers in Kastellorizo as a “ provocation ”, denouncing a violation of its status as a demilitarized island fixed by a treaty dating from 1947. “ We reject illegitimate attempts to modify the status of this island, ”the ministry said in a statement.
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Armed soldiers
AFP released photos showing the arrival of armed Greek soldiers in Kastellorizo on Friday. These images were widely covered by the Turkish media. According to a Greek official, soldiers were already present on the island before that date and the arrival of the soldiers on Friday was part of a rotation of the workforce. The island of Kastellorizo is one of the main points of contention between Turkey and Greece in their dispute over the sharing of the immense gas reserves discovered in recent years in the eastern Mediterranean.
Athens maintains that it has the right to exploit the natural resources around this island. But Ankara refuses, believing that this would amount to depriving Turkey of tens of thousands of km2 of sea and to " imprison it inside its coasts ". The current escalation of tensions was triggered by the deployment of a Turkish seismic research vessel in waters claimed by Athens south of Kastellorizo on August 10. Showing its inflexibility despite threats of European sanctions, Turkey has repeatedly extended the mission of its research vessel, the Oruis Reis.
