NO. 12
WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) issued the following statement following a January 27, 2020 phone call between President Donald J. Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
According to press reports, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere stated that among the items which they discussed, "President Trump also highlighted the importance of Turkey and Greece resolving their disagreements in the eastern Mediterranean.”
It is significant that President Trump acknowledges that the relations between Turkey and Greece are important to the eastern Mediterranean. But these relations must be considered in context. The “disagreements” to be resolved stem from acts by Turkey which are hostile and provocative.
1. President Erdogan has urged that Turkey repudiate the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, which has served as the legal regime in the Aegean Sea since 1923.
2. Since 2018, Turkey has ordered its U.S.- supplied military aircraft to sortie into the Greek Flight Information Region (FIR) and sovereign Greek airspace. Each sortie violates the U.S. law under which the U.S. supplied the aircraft as well as the UN Charter and international law.
3. Turkey has claimed to conclude with a faction in the Libyan government an “international agreement” which purports to draw maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. and the European Union (EU) and the general international community has condemned this act as unlawful and void.
4. Turkey has moved a research vessel into and through the waters within the Greek continental shelf.
5. Turkey has repeatedly violated the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus.
6. Turkey continues to unlawfully occupy the territory of the Republic of Cyprus which it began after it unlawfully invaded in the Republic of Cyprus in 1974.
Further, illegal immigration via Turkey threatens Greece’s economic development and prosperity.
The United States’ expressed commitment to Greece’s security as communicated by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—in public remarks and in a written letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last month—is appreciated. However, Greece is under siege from Turkey and is well within its rights to defend itself against Turkey’s threats and provocations. Greece is an immensely valuable link as “a pillar of stability” in the region, is a frontline state against terrorism, and is a pivotal and dependable NATO ally. Therefore, it is in the best interests for the United States for peace and stability to exist in the eastern Mediterranean. For that to occur, the United States must address Turkey as the root cause of the region’s current instability and increased tension.
The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit Greek American public policy center and think tank that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.
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For additional information, please contact Elias Gerasoulis at (202) 785-8430 or at [email protected]. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at http://www.ahiworld.org.