Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Thursday kept up the recent verbal flare-up between Athens and Ankara over two rocky islets in the eastern Aegean in the headlines, calling on Greek DM Panos Kammenos to “come to his senses” in order to “avoid further tension and possible mistakes”.
Çavuşoğlu’s comments came after Kammenos flew over the Imia islets this week to toss a wreath in the sea in memory of three Greek navy aviators whose helicopter crashed in the region during an incident between Greece and Turkey that almost turned into a military conflict.
The Greek DM’s visit also came after Greek vessels prevented a Turkish missile boat carrying the Turkish military chief from reaching the islets earlier in the week, an incident followed by mass air space violations in the Aegean by Turkish warplanes on Wednesday.
The Turkish FM’s statements were first reported by the Turkish mass daily Hurriyet’s website, as the former also repeated Ankara’s standing offer for “dialogue” to solve the dispute.
Official Greece has repeatedly told Turkish governments over the past 20 years that it bases its claims of sovereignty over the uninhabited islets, which Ankara dubbed as “Kardak” in January 1996, on international law, ratified treaties and the International Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which Turkey does not recognize.
Speaking on an Athens TV station, Kammenos stated that “… we want peace. We are not looking to clash or for trouble in the Aegean. But there won’t be any (Turkish military) aircraft that will not be intercepted,” he said.
