Ankara knows very well the intentions of those who provoked Athens, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday about the recent military buildup in Greece.

Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said: "The weapons piled up in Western Thrace and on the islands make no sense to us because our power is far beyond them, but we remind you that this means a covert occupation."

Erdoğan said Türkiye does not want the Aegean and Mediterranean seas "being polluted with human blood, tears or hostility."

"We want peace and tranquility with all our hearts," he added.

Türkiye on Monday lodged a protest with the United States and Greece over the unlawful deployment of armored vehicles on Aegean islands with non-military status.

Turkish army drones have recorded the Greek deployment of armored vehicles on the islands of Lesbos and Samos, which is in violation of international law.

Türkiye summoned the Greek ambassador and called for an end to violations on Aegean islands and restoring their non-military status, according to the Foreign Ministry.

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.

These islands were required to be demilitarized under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris, so any troops or weapons on the islands are strictly forbidden.

Meanwhile, in a protest note to the United States, Türkiye urged respect for the status of eastern Aegean islands and measures to be taken to prevent the use of weapons there.

Turkish drone footage, released on Sunday, showed that landing ships carried military vehicles donated by the United States to the islands.

According to security sources, the Turkish drones performing a flight mission over the Aegean Sea recorded two Greek landing ships en route to Lesbos and Samos.

It was revealed that the ships were carrying 23 tactical wheeled armored vehicles to Lesbos and 18 to Samos. The armored vehicles were among those sent by the U.S. to the Port of Alexandroupolis in Greece.

Erdoğan also on Monday slammed Greece over its latest "provocations," saying Ankara will not fail to defend its rights and interests.

"The occupation-looking military buildups of foreign countries all over Greece should, in essence, disturb Greek people, not us," Erdoğan said after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

The president said Türkiye is following Greece's policies "filled with provocation."

"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 Türkiye.

"However, this is a dangerous game for the Greek politicians, the Greek state, the Greek people and those who use them as puppets," he stressed.

Greece will be held accountable for people it left to die in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean, Erdoğan said.

The president added that Türkiye will not fail to defend the country's rights and interests against Greece, "using all the means at our disposal," reiterating that Greece is not at the same level as Türkiye.

"Neither those military buildups nor that political and economic support is enough to raise Greece to our level, but these wrong steps are enough to drag Greece into the swamp in every sense," Erdoğan said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. appealed to fellow NATO allies Greece and Türkiye on Monday to "work together" to ensure regional peace and security after Ankara said Athens breached international law.

"Now's not the time for statements or any actions that could raise tensions between NATO allies," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

"We are encouraging our NATO allies to resolve any disagreements they may have diplomatically. We think we should remain focused on what is a collective threat to all of us, and that's Russia's aggression."

'Support to terrorism'

Also, Erdoğan on Tuesday harshly criticized the European countries that protect terrorist organizations.

"As the nests of terror are destroyed, members of terrorist organizations openly set up camps for themselves in some countries.

"The murderers who shed the blood of our citizens are embraced in almost every country in Europe, particularly in the Lavrion camp in Greece. They can walk around freely," Erdoğan told the meeting in the capital Ankara.

The terrorists pose a threat to the peace and security of Western countries protecting the terrorist groups, Erdoğan warned and said he expects all countries, especially Türkiye's neighbors, to take necessary measures against terrorist organizations.

A second camp harboring terrorists was opened in Greece next to the existing notorious Lavrion camp, sources said this week amid increasing tensions between Ankara and Athens.

A Turkish official told Daily Sabah that although Athens rejected claims that Lavrion has become a breeding ground for terrorists, Ankara has discovered another camp similar to Lavrion had been opened. "We are in a very fragile process," the official said regarding bilateral ties.

Greece has long been accused of being a favorite hideout for terrorists from the DHKP-C and PKK. Those fleeing Türkiye have taken shelter in refugee camps in Lavrion near Athens under the guise of being asylum-seekers, especially in the 1980s. Despite the closure of Lavrion in 2013 amid pressure from Türkiye, Greece continues to be the primary destination for DHKP-C terrorists.

Footage from the camp shows that it has turned into a base for PKK terrorists.

Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, air space, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.