Turkey lodges protest with US, Greece over alleged military deployment in Aegean islands

After Turkish officials released drone footage on Sunday allegedly showing US-supplied armored vehicles being carried out of ships on Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos, Ankara accused Greece of breaching international treaties and lodged a protest on Monday with the US and Greece over deployment of armored vehicles on islands with non-military status.

Greek ambassador to Turkey was summoned by the Turkish Foreign Ministry and "called for an end to violations on Aegean islands and restoring their non-military status," Turkish state news agency AA said.

In the note, the ministry stated that the deployment was another violation of Greece's obligations under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris.

In a protest note to the US, Türkiye urged respect for the status of Eastern Aegean islands and measures to be taken to prevent the use of its weapons there.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan further targeted "foreign countries" later in the day, mentioning of an "occupation-looking military buildup all over Greece."

"The occupation-looking military buildups of foreign countries all over Greece should, in essence, disturb Greek people, not us," he said; adding:

"We are well aware of the real intentions of those who provoked and unleashed Greek politicians against us to hinder our program of building up a great and powerful Turkey (...) However, this is a dangerous game for the Greek politicians, the Greek state, the Greek people, and those who use them as puppets."