Assignment of Aegean Islands to Greece dismissed by ministry

The Foreign Ministry has issued a statement dismissing the claims of Turkey reportedly assigning over the authority on some of its islands in the Aegean Sea since 2003 to another country.

The official statement said, "There has been no change in the legal status of the islands and cliffs in the Aegean within the last 13 years." It further said that there are a series of disputes interconnected from the Aegean Sea matter between Turkey and Greece.

In this respect the recent statement stressed that the absence of a valid international agreement between Turkey and Greece defining the sea border, which would also determine the authority on some of the islets and cliffs at the Aegean, remains an issue between the two states.

Though Turkey and Greece nearly entered a war over the uninhabited islets and cliffs in the Aegean in 1996, the tensions between the two states have eased over the years. The Foreign Ministry underlined that all means of current dialogue channels are being maintained regarding issues related to the Aegean and other matters with Greece.