Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has again threatened Wednesday to invade the Greek islands if the Greek government continues to refuse to demilitarize them, as demanded by Ankara.
Cavusoglu, who indicated during a press conference that Turkish forces could «arrive suddenly during the night», pointed out that Ankara could also «challenge sovereignty» in other ways.
Asked about the possibility of carrying out military exercises on the islands of Rhodes and Lesbos, Cavusoglu reaffirmed that the «ball is in Greece’s court».
His words have taken place during a meeting with his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, in which he has asserted that «Athens is to blame for the increase in tension» between the parties. «Greece is taking negative measures for its security despite the circumstances. It is militarizing the islands, so it is not possible to remain silent in the face of this. It is Greece that is violating this status,» he pointed out.
«That is why our honorable president says that we can come at any time,» he said in reference to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s words. The Romanian minister, for his part, has urged the parties to «resolve the disputes peacefully».
