Turkish envoy raises Greece's 'flagrant violations' with UN chief

WASHINGTON

Turkey's UN envoy has raised Greece's "continuous flagrant violations" in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Feridun Sinirlioglu sent a letter to Guterres on Tuesday in which he said Greece has run afoul of "her solemn treaty obligations" in those waters, including violations of "basic provisions" in the Lausanne and Paris Peace Treaties that islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean ceded to Athens would remain demilitarized.

"The Turkish government is in possession of detailed and well-documented information regarding the ongoing militarization of those islands in contravention of" those treaties, wrote Sinirlioglu.

"Greece's continuing deliberate and persistent material breach of the demilitarization provisions of the Lausanne and Paris Peace Treaties, which are essential to the accomplishment of their object and purpose, constitutes a serious threat to the security of Turkey. Equally importantly and given their escalatory nature, such breaches carry wider implications in terms of a threat to peace and security in the region," added Sinirlioglu.

The Turkish envoy told Guterres that the violations "means that Greece cannot vis-a-vis Turkey, rely on its title under the same treaties for the purpose of a maritime boundary delimitation."

"This is because Greece, having failed to fulfill its obligations under the treaties, cannot at the same time be recognized as retaining the rights which it claims to derive from them," wrote Sinirlioglu.