Turkish President Erdogan is demanding the demilitarization of several Greek islands and blatantly threatening war. Many Greeks fear that the threats will not stop there.

The Turkish-Greek border is being discussed on a Turkish TV program broadcast by the pro-government private radio Haber Turk. The map of the two countries can be seen on the screen in the background. One of the studio guests, journalist Gurkan Zengin, stands in front of him, holding a pointer in his hand.

Zengin uses the wand at the western end of mainland Turkey and draws a vertical line south – what he believes should be the actual border between Greece and Turkey. The result: many Greek islands such as the holiday islands of Rhodes and Kos suddenly became Turkish territory.

This TV clip has spread like wildfire across social media in Greece over the past few days. Because what journalist Zengin presented in a very populist way on TV corresponds to what has been reproduced more and more by high-ranking Turkish politicians in the past few days and weeks. The focus of the territorial dispute is mainly the Dodecanese group of islands, which also includes the island of Rhodes, but also other inhabited islands such as Lesbos, Samos and Kos.

The Turkish-Greek border has been regulated for nearly 100 years, but the question of sovereign rights in the eastern Aegean is complicated by international law: for example, the Treaties of Lausanne (1923) and Paris (1947) provide for islands allotted to any country, but also that some islands It may not be armed. Between them appeared the Treaty of Montreux (1936), which, in turn, was intended to partially replace the Treaty of Lausanne. Among other things, Turkey derives its disputed territorial claims from this treaty.

Embassy in military exercises

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in a major military exercise in the western Turkish port city of Izmir, which also involved NATO allies. In his speech, he repeatedly accused Greece of arming a number of Aegean islands in violation of international law and warned Athens against further militarization.

Athena should „avoid dreams, statements, and actions that she regrets.” Such actions can have „serious consequences” and: „I’m not kidding.” Erdogan then published these statements in English and Greek on his Twitter channel.

Calm but alert

In Greece, this is considered a clear threat of war. But the government’s reaction so far has been quiet: Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said at the summit meeting of Southeast European countries in Thessaloniki that they would not contribute to an escalation with neighboring Turkey by engaging in insulting statements, illegal and inappropriate demands and accusations.

The Greek Foreign Ministry also published 16 maps aimed at documenting the „extent of Turkish distortion”. It aims to show Turkish territorial claims from 1923 to the present day.

Don’t disarm now

In light of threatening gestures from the East, Athena sees itself also certain not to disarm the islands in the eastern Aegean. Thus Greece is exercising its right of self-defense, after all there are many landing craft on the western coast of Turkey.

In addition, Turkish combat aircraft currently violate Greek airspace almost every day and fly over large inhabited islands such as Rhodes, Samos and Kos.

feeling nauseous

This, and above all verbal escalation, leaves many Greeks feeling nauseous. Most hope the Turkish president’s belligerent rhetoric is just part of his campaign strategy. Turkey’s presidential elections are taking place next year and Erdogan has announced that he wants to run again.

But the economic situation in Turkey is bad, with the inflation rate exceeding 70 percent, according to official figures. So why then, as a distraction, ignite a conflict that has been burning for decades?

Nobody really dares to predict how far Erdogan will go. However, the Greeks still remember well the late summer of 2020, when Turkish and Greek warships faced each other in the eastern Mediterranean.