The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has urged Greek authorities on Wednesday to "change course" and to put an end to what he describes as "the militarization of the Aegean islands." At the same time, he emphasized that Ankara's "calm and rational" attitude should not be seen as a sign of "weakness."
During a conversation with journalists aboard the presidential plane, on his return trip from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, after participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Erdogan stressed that Turkey "has no territorial ambitions" but "will not allow its rights to be violated."
"Turkey has no ambitions regarding anyone's territory, but will not allow anyone to violate its rights," reiterated the head of state, who urged Athens to abandon what he considers a "wrong path" and to "respect the existing international treaties."
In this regard, he warned that "ignoring and violating international treaties benefits no one" and insisted that "whoever interprets Turkey's calm and rational attitude as weakness is making a serious mistake." He added that Ankara is doing "everything necessary to promote Greek-Turkish relations based on good neighborliness."
"We have been the constructive party," defended Erdogan. "However, most of the time we have not seen a reciprocal response to our good intentions," he pointed out, emphasizing that the disputed islands must maintain their current "status" as "demilitarized territory."
The authorities of Greece, on the other hand, have repeatedly rejected the Turkish interpretation of international agreements and maintain that these do not impose a general demilitarization of the Aegean islands. Furthermore, they emphasize the need to "retain the right to defend their own territory in accordance with International Law."