Greek Foreign Ministry Responds to Bahçeli's Claims on Dodecanese Islands

On Tuesday, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, responding to comments made by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Ministry emphasized that the status of the Dodecanese Islands is governed by the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, an international agreement.

“As a sovereign state, Greece does not relinquish its natural and legal right to defence, as outlined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter,” the Ministry said. “This right becomes even more significant when Greece faces threats of war (casus belli) for exercising its sovereign rights, as stipulated by International Law.”

The statement further stressed, “Preserving peace requires caution and responsibility, not inflammatory remarks. Sovereignty is non-negotiable, and revisionist perspectives must be universally condemned.”

Bahçeli's comments, which sparked the Greek Ministry's response, included claims that the Dodecanese Islands were "stolen" from Turkey by deceit and that the islands could not "live without Turkey." He also reiterated that Turkey would never relinquish its claim over what he referred to as the "Blue Homeland."

Read Devlet Bahçeli Reasserts Claim on Greek Islands in Parliamentary Speech