Turkish Paper Hints at “New Conquest” of Greece on Fall of Constantinople Anniversary

A pro-government Turkish newspaper ran a front page featuring Mehmed the Conqueror today, the 573rd anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, alongside what SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis described as pointed provocations aimed at Greece. The paper, Turkiye, one of the country's largest and most government-aligned outlets, referenced tensions over Kastellorizo, Cyprus's missile purchases, maritime zoning disputes, and Greece's defense programs, with language suggesting a "new conquest." That kind of rhetoric from a publication of that size is not typical tabloid noise.

CNN Turk added to the pressure with its own segment asking whether Greece and Turkey are sliding back toward the kind of hostility that defined their relations before 2023. The network pointed out that Mitsotakis and Erdogan met as recently as February of this year, and that the period from 2023 onward had seen a so-called "positive agenda" between Athens and Ankara. According to CNN Turk, recent moves by Athens and statements from Greek officials are now "starting to irritate Ankara."

"Greece is systematically ignoring its obligations toward Turkey regarding the Aegean and the demilitarization of islands." — Sinan Demirturk, Gazi University

Turkish network TVNET reported that tension rose after Greek fighter jets flew over Kastellorizo, a Greek island just two kilometers from the Turkish coast and 580 kilometers from mainland Greece. The outlet called it a "provocation," claimed Greek armed forces have been placed on alert for a possible "hot incident," and accused Greece of attempting to bring the Aegean under its own sphere of sovereignty.

Separately, Turkish television broadcasts repeated the claim that neither the Treaty of Lausanne nor the Paris Peace Treaty explicitly assigns 152 islands, islets, and rocky outcroppings to Greece, calling them "Ottoman heritage" that should be under Turkish sovereignty. The reports specifically named Karpathos, Kasos, Kos, Astypalaia, and Nisyros, claiming 25 of those disputed features have been militarized by Greece.

Gazi University professor Sinan Demirturk, quoted on CNN Turk, accused Greece of "systematically ignoring its obligations toward Turkey regarding the Aegean and the demilitarization of islands."