Greece-Turkey relations deteriorate over Aegean Sea status quo

Turkey disputes 1923 Lausanne Treaty in a series of statements

Tensions between Greece and Turkey over the status of a series of Greeks isles and islets in the Aegean Sea are rising, following a barrage of statements made by the Turkish political establishment. Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan in a speech raised the issue of a possible revision of the 1923 Treaty of Lausane, which had settled the status quo of a number of islands in the Aegean Sea by designating them as being under Greek control. The leader of the Turkish major opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu went a step further by accusing Erdogan of having ‘conceded’ 16 islands to Greece. The Turkish position of challenging Greek sovereignty over the islands escalated further by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which released a statement claiming talks between the two countries on the ‘grey zones’ (disputed areas) in the Aegean Sea had been under way. The statement read that there were no sea borders between Greece and Turkey and the matters of the ownership of islands in the Aegean were under discussion between the two sides. The Greek Foreign Ministry responded by issuing a belated statement making it clear that there was no other matter for discussion besides the designation of the sea shelf between the two countries, and called on Ankara to refrain from using tactics to redraw the status quo.