Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar appeared provocative again in an interview with a Turkish newspaper in which he talked about the militarization of the Greek Aegean islands and the Greek natural gas reserves that he proposed to “be shared” with Turkey.
“We invite our Greek neighbours to Turkey for the fourth meeting. We want the people of both sides to benefit from the riches of the Aegean, let us exploit them together, let us live with confidence and prosperity but our neighbouring Greece and some politicians, in particular, do the opposite.
What they say is, “We have equipped the islands.” Indeed, they do. It is against the Treaty of Lausanne. These islands cannot be armed as long as the treaty is in force. “Some countries are behind and encouraging them to challenge us,” Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar stated.
“And they say, ‘We will equip ourselves.’ Despite this rough economic period, they bring the Greek people into serious trouble by spending a lot of money there. There are some Greek diplomats, retired officers, academics who have seen this. You are not going to get anywhere with the equipment, it is a futile effort.
Give up provocative actions and rhetoric that cause tension and hold the hand of friendship that we extend. We say we will sit down and talk if necessary. But our neighbour undermines it with exercises and alliances. “We are in the NATO alliance, it must be made clear that new artificial alliances, such initiatives will harm NATO,” Turkish MoD concluded his statements
Hulusi Akar (The Turkish Defense Minister) forgot to mention that Turkish landing ships are 40km away from Greek islands and that Greece reserves the right to arm them and defend its territorial integrity. About the share of Greek gas reserves, it’s just typical Turkish delusions that are being expressed from time to time.
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