As Turkey is dialing up its polemic rhetoric against Greece to unprecedented levels, with President Erdogan and pundits openly threatening war, Greece is finding some unexpected allies in the form of honourary Turkish ambassador Yalim Eralp who clearly sided with the Athens as the honourary Turkish ambassador Yalim Eralp stated in an interview that “Greece is right”.
“Greece is right” on the issue of the Aegean islands, he said, triggering reactions from the pro-government media that have “flagged” the narrative of “questionable Greek sovereignty” by adopting Ankara’s delusion against our country. “There are many claims of sovereignty that the islands were given on condition. There is no such thing,” he said.
Yalım Eralp
Πρέσβης επί τιμή ΤουρκίαςΗ Λωζάννη, τα νησιά, πέρα από τα 3 μίλια, τα έδωσε
στην Ελλάδα, είτε μας αρέσει, είτε δεν μας αρέσει. pic.twitter.com/FPzf8F9Lce— EᑎIᗩᑕ ® (@VasilisEniac) June 9, 2022
The islands that are beyond three miles were given to Greece and Turkey has accepted it for many years. “Putting this into question now – in diplomacy – makes Turkey an attacking state,” Eralp said in a televised statement. “If I remember correctly, there are over 2,400 islands and islets in the Mediterranean. A treaty to count all these islands is out of the question. We have not seen it anywhere. Lausanne, the islands beyond three miles, gave it to Greece, whether we like it or not.”
With a rich diplomatic biography, Yalim Eralp, who served as an advisor to Mesut Yilmaz and Tansu Ziller and, among others, served in the Turkish Permanent Mission to the United Nations and NATO, at the Washington embassies, said in an interview with while he argued that objecting to this would make Turkey an “aggressive state”.
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