For one more time, Turkey raised the issue of negotiating anew the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 that set out the borders of modern Turkey with its neighbors, including Greece. Enegy Minister Fatih Donmez claimed that the conditions of 1923 do not exist anymore and therefore the Treaty should be reviewed and changed.
“With the First World War and the wars that followed, there were some conditions that are not clear and perhaps these laid the foundations of today’s discussions. One of them is Lausanne. But 100 years have passed, I believe that we can sit down to discuss them, to negotiate,” Donmez said on Monday.
In an interview with Kanal 7, he once again blamed Athens for tensions in the region and the maritime border dispute between the two countries.
“If you see what Greece supports, it is like trapping us on our shores. With God’s help, they will give up their mistakes as soon as possible,” he said.
At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to defend the sovereign rights of Turkey from space to the Blue Homeland – a large area in the Mediterranean over which Turkey believes it should wield influence.
“We are building a strong deterrent infrastructure. As part of our goal of becoming a technology-driven country, from the Blue Homeland to cyberspace and space, we will defend our sovereign rights in every field,” he said.
Greece reiterated on Monday that it is ready to pick up from where the exploratory contacts were interrupted in 2016 on the condition that Ankara de-escalates its tactics of ratcheting up tensions.
Note that the Lausanne Treaty is not only an issue between Greece and Turkey. It affects also Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Egypt, Sudan, Syrian, Iraq, the Bosporus Straits, Yemen, Libya and all the other countries involve din the Treaty.
