Greek deputy accused of treason over Kardak islets

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

A Greek deputy from the main opposition Syriza party who stated that the disputed Aegean islets of Imia/Kardak belonged to Turkey has been accused of treason and removed from a parliamentary panel, daily Hürriyet has reported.

“In my opinion, the Imia islets are called Kardak. Italy included these islets too when leaving the 12 islands to Greece but in fact Kardak, in comparison to Kilimli island, is closer to Turkey,” Nasos Theodoridis wrote on his Facebook page.

Nasos Theodoridis, a Human Rights Committee member from the left-wing coalition party, also said Greece should abandon its “unreasonable” demand to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles.

“Greek jets have to stop harassing Turkish warplanes over the Aegean,” he said.

Theodoridis was dismissed from the committee, although Syriza said the deputy’s comments did not reflect the party’s views.

Greek media reportedly accused Theodoridis of “treason,” saying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not even claim the islets so strongly for Turkey.

The islets, Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish, are a pair of two small uninhabited rocks in the Aegean Sea, situated between the Greek island chain of the Dodecanese and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey. Greece and Turkey nearly went to war over the islets in 1995.