Greek opposition says “armed islands of the Aegean”: “We should not give this signal to Erdogan”

At a time when relations between Turkey and Greece were beginning to improve, the Greek opposition made a controversial statement about the “Aegean islands.”

After his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the NATO summit in July, President Tayyip Erdoğan said: “We spoke very clearly with Prime Minister Mitsotakis. My Minister of Foreign Affairs has spoken with his interlocutor about the issue of arming the islands, he is speaking and will speak about it. Of course, this problem doesn’t just arise from Greece: his friends in the White House and the lobby constantly provoke them. As a result of this provocation, undesirable situations occurred from time to time. “I think we’ll get through this quickly,” he said.

‘ISLANDS AND LAND WATERS ARE OUR RED LINE’

While the issue remains on the agenda between the two countries, the new leader of the main Greek opposition party, SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, made notable statements about the arming of the Aegean islands in his interview with journalist Maria Nikoltsiou in the Thessaloniki Summit.

Kasselakis stated that the Turkish demand for disarmament of the Aegean islands is “Greece’s red line.”

“The disarmament of the islands, our national sovereignty and our unilateral right to expand our territorial waters are clearly our red lines,” the Greek leader said, adding: “We should not indicate to Erdogan that we are open to demilitarizing the islands.”