Türkiye records Greece’s deployment of armored vehicles on Aegean islands

ANKARA

Turkish military drones monitored Greek landing ships carrying military vehicles, which were donated by the U.S., to the Aegean islands with non-military status, Demirören News Agency reported on Sept. 25.

Video footage displayed the ships landing on the islands of Midilli (Lesvos) and Sisam (Samos) on Sept. 18 and 21. They were carrying 23 tactical wheeled armored vehicles to Midilli and 18 to Sisam, the agency quoted anonymous security sources as saying.

The armored vehicles were among those sent by the U.S. to the Port of Alexandroupolis (Dedeağaç) of Greece, according to the sources.

The act of Greece, which was against international law and the spirit of alliance, was “unacceptable,” the security sources said.

Emphasizing that Greece has violated the non-military status of these two islands for many years and has deployed weapons there, the sources said that with these latest shipments, Greece has replaced some of the vehicles on these islands with tactical wheeled armored vehicles donated by the U.S.

The sources also recalled Türkiye’s calls to resolve the problems with dialogue and under international law.

“Greece does not even attend the meetings despite invitation [by Ankara] and makes such provocations show who increases the tension, who is irreconcilable, aggressive and unlawful,” they said.