On Sunday a Turkish ship illegally entered Greek waters in the region of the Imia islets, ANA-MPA has reported.
Greece immediately responded and requested that the vessel depart from Greek waters. After a few minutes, the Turkish FAC obliged and no further incident occurred.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) denied that its warship retreated following the Greek threats.
The new Turkish provocation has been interpreted both as a show of strength and a response to Greece’s decision not to extradite the eight Turkish military officers who fled to Greece after the attempted coup in July, the Greek government has said.
In an interview with Portugal’s RTP TV, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos called on Turkey to respect both the history and the friendship between the two countries.
“We should not just say that we are good friends, but we have to prove it,” he underlined.
“Sunday’s violation was a very serious one because it was not only the Greek maritime borders that were violated but the borders of Europe too. The Treaty of Lausanne was violated,” Pavlopoulos, who is paying an official visit to Portugal, said.
“I hope that there will be no other violation in the future because this will not only affect the bilateral relations but also Turkey’s relations with Europe,” said the President.
Pavlopoulos also stressed the need to change the austerity policy in Europe, saying the current austerity policy causes problems such as higher debt, inequalities, unemployment.
“We have to persuade our European partners,” he added, “to change the specific austerity policy. Greece will remain in the eurozone and the European Union.”
Source: ANA-MPA
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