There has been mass outrage in Turkey after Israel’s i24 News French language service showed the Turkish-held islands of Imvros and Tenedos belonging to Greece.
During a discussion about the Turkish-induced hostile situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, reported Pentapostagma, a map appeared that showed the EastMed pipeline that will connect Israel to Greece via Cyprus, with a separate pipeline project connecting Greece to Italy.
With Turkey already enraged that it is not part of this project as it tries to position itself as an energy transportation hub, it was the colouring of Imvros and Tenedos as belonging to Greece that angered Turkish media.
Tenedos and Imvros, historically Greek islands, were granted to Turkey by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 and was supposed to guarantee a special autonomous administrative status for the two islands that had a Greek-majority.
Massive scale persecution against the local Greek element started in 1961. The Turkish government launched the Eritme Programmi operation that pressurised the Greek minority by reclaiming 90% of the cultivated areas of the islands and settled 6,000 Turks from the mainland. Greek-language schools were closed and an open prison that included inmates convicted of rape and murder that could roam freely on Imvros, was opened.
From a Greek-majority, the island now has about 600 Greeks and 8,000 Turks. However, the Greek community is beginning to grow again as the 15,000 Imvrian community in Greece and elsewhere abroad are beginning to return to their island and have reopened a Greek language school, as previously reported by Greek City Times.
This provocation by the Israeli media outlet comes as only yesterday a plaque that had the Turkish flag on it in a cemetery in East Jerusalem, was destroyed.
https://twitter.com/fatiher99/status/1275708071084527616
Ankara restored the cemetery without approval, but on orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli police removed the Turkish flag to much condemnation from Turkey
