Greece Sends Letters To UN After Turkey Claims That It Has Sovereignty Over Aegean Islands

Turkey claims that it has sovereignty over all Aegean islands in the Eastern Mediterranean region that which are not cited by name in international treaties, according to reports by Tο BHMA.

The newspaper states:

“After months of declarations from top Turkish government officials that Greece’s sovereignty over a number of its islands in the eastern Mediterranean is contingent upon Athens demilitarising them, now Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly decided that he wishes to forbid Deputy Defence Minister Nikos Hardalias from visiting the said islands without Ankara’s permission.”

Greece sends two letters to UN

Following Turkey’s unjustified claims, Greece was forced to send two letters to the UN Secretary General objecting to Turkey’s view on the status of the Greek islands.

In a meeting with North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that:

“The sovereignty of the Aegean islands will come into question if Greece does not stop violating international treaties.”

Cavusoglu’s remarks were in reference to Turkey’s demands that Greece demilitarises the islands in question.

In the letters addressed to the UN Secretary General, Greece’s UN representative denies the arguments made by Turkey on grounds of legal unsustainability, while pointing out that there are revisionist motives behind such claims, which only lead to negative outcomes.

[Based on reporting by: Greek City Times]