Turkey on Sunday warned Greece its soldiers on a tiny island violate a 1947 peace treaty, stoking tension between the two NATO members over energy resources in the Mediterranean.
With Turkish media featuring images of Greek soldiers arriving on the island, the Foreign Ministry in Ankara said, "We will not allow such a provocation just across our shores.” In contrast, a person familiar with the Greek government’s stance said soldiers are already stationed on the island and the event was a routine troop rotation.
While Greece played down the military move’s significance, the friction is the latest sign of regional conflict between two countries that went to war over Cyprus in 1974 and are at odds over exclusive economic zones while occupying key positions on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastern flank.