Tensions between Turkey and Greece escalate over the status of Aegean islands after Athens deployed Patriot air defenses to Kerpe following a drone attack on Cyprus.
Tensions between two NATO members — Turkey and Greece — have sharply escalated once again amid the broader instability triggered by the military operation launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28. The latest dispute centers on the status of islands in the eastern Aegean Sea.
The situation intensified after Iranian drones attacked the British RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus on March 2. In response, Athens redeployed a Patriot air defense battery to the island of Kerpe. The move immediately drew a strong reaction from Ankara.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense pointed out that, under the Lausanne and Paris peace treaties, certain islands were transferred to Greece on the condition that they remain demilitarized. From Ankara’s perspective, the deployment of military equipment there violates the legal framework governing their status.
Turkish officials stated that the islands of Limni, referenced in the Lausanne Treaty, and Kerpe, mentioned in the Paris Peace Treaty, were explicitly required to maintain a non-military status. According to the ministry’s spokesperson, the demilitarized condition was a key provision of those agreements, and attempts by Greece to alter that status contradict the treaties while undermining relations of good-neighborliness and alliance.
Ankara also stressed that amid rising tensions in the Middle East, disputes of this kind between NATO allies are unacceptable. Turkish authorities lodged a formal protest with Athens and warned that Turkey reserves the right to take retaliatory measures.
The renewed friction between the two NATO members reflects the wider instability caused by the escalation in the Middle East. In this environment, regional powers are once again returning to long-standing territorial disputes.