Turkey: “Greece’s Mirage Move is a Clear Violation of International Law”
Turkey is closely watching two simultaneous Greek military moves on Karpathos, and the reactions from Ankara range from cautious optimism to outright condemnation.
Greek state broadcaster Skai reported Tuesday that Greece is withdrawing its Patriot missile batteries from both Karpathos and the Evros region, following a decision made at the KYSEA national security council chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Turkish outlet Haber Global noted that the Patriots were never actually used after their deployment, and that Greece had originally justified placing them on Karpathos as protection against potential Iranian ballistic attacks, and at Evros to protect Bulgaria.
"Greece has been gradually undermining both the Lausanne and Paris Treaties through incremental illegal actions" — Yanki Bağcıoğlu, Republican People's Party vice president
CNN Turk ran the headline "Did Greece Choose Peace?" and framed the Patriot withdrawal as a step toward de-escalation. Ankara, according to the outlet, is reading the removal as a crisis-reduction move.
But the simultaneous deployment of French-made Mirage fighter jets to Karpathos is drawing a sharply different reaction. CNN Turk called it a "contradictory message" from Athens, undercutting whatever goodwill the Patriot withdrawal might have generated.
The harshest criticism came from Yanki Bağcıoğlu, vice president of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, who stated that Karpathos holds demilitarized status under the Paris Treaty and that deploying two fighter aircraft constitutes a clear violation of international law. He added that Greece has been gradually undermining both the Lausanne and Paris Treaties through incremental illegal actions, and called for Greece to be formally warned over what he described as behavior contrary to good-neighborly relations.
Turkey had already reacted strongly when the Patriots were first installed on Karpathos, with Ankara arguing that any military presence on Aegean islands violates international treaties. The new fighter jet deployment is being used by Turkish commentators as evidence that Greece is not genuinely pulling back from a confrontational posture.
Reporting from Istanbul by Manolis Kostidis for Skai contributed to this coverage.
