Erdogan warns Greece of ‘catastrophic’ result if islands armed

dpa Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Greece to stop arming the Aegean islands and follow international treaties, in remarks on T...

dpa Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Greece to stop arming the Aegean islands and follow international treaties, in remarks on Thursday that could lead to a dangerous escalation between the two neighbours.Greece should “avoid dreams, statements and acts that will lead to regret,” Erdogan said in televised remarks during military exercises on the coast of western Turkey involving NATO allies.“Pull yourself together ... I am not joking,” Erdogan said in comments addressed to Athens. He claims Greece is allowing military exercises involving NATO and third countries on the islands that have a non-military status.Such moves “could have catastrophic consequences,” Erdogan warned, adding Turkey would not refrain from taking measures under international treaties, although he did not elaborate. Militarising the Greek islands in the east of the Aegean Sea is prohibited under the 1923 treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 treaty of Paris.Athens argues that soldiers are staged to fend off vessels approaching from Turkey’s west coast.Erdogan’s remarks come amid heightened tensions between the two NATO members who have historically been at odds over a series of issues, including gas reserves and maritime rights in the eastern Mediterranean and the island of Cyprus, split between Turks and Greeks since 1974.In 2020, they came to the brink of military confrontation when both dispatched vessels to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters.Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu threatened to address the islands’ sovereignty if Greece does not stop arming them.Meanwhile, the Greek Foreign Ministry on Thursday published 16 maps to document “the extent of Turkish revisionism”. According to the images which Greece says depict Turkish territorial claims, Ankara is claiming half the Aegean and large parts of the eastern Mediterranean.