In a decisive manner and with arguments from its diplomatic quiver, Athens responded to Ankara’s new challenge and its arbitrary claims regarding the demilitarization of the Aegean islands.
As soon as the Council of Ministers in Turkey concluded, which examined the progress of Greek-Turkish relations, Ankara summoned the Greek ambassador to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and protested with all formality the transfer of the M-1117 armored vehicles to Lesvos and Samos, which in recent hours is a dominant topic in the Turkish media.
Athens, which seems to have expected this development, immediately rejected the Turkish objections in their entirety, noting that they are completely unfounded and inconsistent with International Law.
Athens’ response moved within the framework of the doctrine “what is threatened is not demilitarized”.
According to diplomatic sources, the Greek ambassador in Ankara, Christodoulos Lazaris, noted to his Turkish interlocutors that the Greek positions have been thoroughly developed in the two letters sent to the UN Secretary General and that Greece absolutely respects its obligations arising from the Treaty of Lausanne.
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As reported by the same sources, the Greek ambassador in Ankara pointed out that Greece is not the country that threatens war with its neighbor (casus belli), nor has it gathered the largest landing fleet on its shores, as Turkey has.
He added that Turkey continues to violate Greece’s sovereignty, with its continuous airspace violations, as well as its overflights over Greek territory.
It is worth noting that at the time when Mr. Christodoulos Lazaris made these reports, the Greek Pentagon officials were announcing that Turkish aircraft had committed 96 violations of Greek airspace on Monday alone.
