Turkish DM describes Greeks as “friends” but demands the demilitarisation of islands

New statement shave been made Turkey’s so-called Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, who is in Antifellos (Αντίφελλος, Turkish: Kaş), located directly opposite Kastellorizo, and described Greeks as “friends” but continued Turkey’s demand’s of the demilitarisation of Greece’s islands.

Akar said that “18 militarised Greek islands are in violation of international agreements and increases tensions,” calling for the “demilitarisation of Kastellorizo” where Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is today and tomorrow, and stressed that France was inciting Greece to take provocative actions.

Greece began arming its islands when Turkey established the Aegean Army, based directly oppose many Greek islands, including Kastellorizo which is only a few minutes boat ride away from Antifellos. Turkey created the Aegean Army only one year after it had invaded northern Cyprus in 1974. Because Turkey created the Aegean Army only a year after the invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus, Greece invoked Article 51 of the UN Charter that allows the right for self-defense so it could protect its islands from Turkish plans to invade them.

Turkey claiming it is threatened by Greece is a ridiculous notion considering Greece is not a war hungry country like Turkey that currently occupies northern Cyprus and areas of northern Syria, military intervened in Libya to back a Muslim Brotherhood government, and continues its murderous campaign against Kurds not only with its own borders, but also in Syria and Iraq.

“An area of ​​40,000 kilometers is granted to Greece for Kastellorizo ​​and this is not acceptable to us. We call on everyone to have sense. This is not how problems are solved,” he said.

Despite Akar’s demands for the Greek islands to be unarmed, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis already gave an answer – “No,” as reported by Greek City Times.

The Turkish Minister of Defense also expressed concern about the defense cooperation between Greece and France, stressing that “the arms race has begun. In this way, France motivates Greece to take provocative actions. The tension does not help anyone, especially Greece. Greece damages the peace, every time it exercises with other countries, which have nothing to do with our issues”.

And he continued his attack against French President Emanuel Macron.

“It’s a fact that what France is doing is for commercial purposes. It wants to strengthen its economy by equipping Greece, but there is something more important than that. There has never been a result from the work being done under Macron’s leadership and his policies have gone bankrupt. The most typical examples is the support of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and the pro-Haftar stance in Libya. He is nervous and tries to cover up these mistakes and we hope that our Greek neighbors will not be fooled. They will not say yes to the French and they will see the truth. The people of Greece must see all this and not become a meze [snack] for Macron’s self-rescue.”

He then said that the Oruç Reis had returned to the Anatolian mainland.

“There is no problem with that […] we have not relinquished our rights under any circumstances,” the so-called Turkish Defence Minister said.

Akar once again sent an invitation for dialogue with Greece, even saying “friends.”

“We invite our Greek friends to come whenever they want to discuss and we want these talks to be revealed. We do not hesitate to talk because we know we are right. We see an attempt by Macron to take on a role. They are hiding behind the European Union. On the one hand they say NATO is dead and on the other they hope for help from NATO,” Akar continued.

The so-called Turkish Defense Minister also commented on the partial lifting of the US arms embargo on Cyprus for a 12 month period, saying that “it leads to insolvency and does not fit into the spirit of the alliance. We hope that these mistakes will also be corrected in the coming days.”