ISTANBUL – ANSWER. Despite a meeting between Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Istanbul on Sunday, Turkey continues to maintain its strong rhetoric against Greece, with a spokesman for the ruling AKP party announcing an increase in its troop. Army of the Aegean.

According to reports, Mr. Sullivan asked the Turkish side to prioritize dialogue and diplomacy to resolve disputes in the Southern Mediterranean. The two men in conversation raised issues such as buying F-16 from Turkey, Ankara’s policy towards Russiaaccession of Sweden and Finland to NATObut also Greek-Turkish relations. Ibrahim Kalin told Jake Sullivan that “Turkey will not hesitate to defend its rights and interests in the Aegean and the Mediterranean” and stated that “Greece’s aggressive actions are contrary to international law and unacceptable.”

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in an interview with Milliyet newspaper that “Article 12 of the Lausanne Treaty and Article 14 of the Paris Peace Conference make it clear that islands with a demilitarized regime cannot be militarized. If you do this, it will be tantamount to withdrawing from the Treaty.” Political analysts argue that such a position of Mr. Akar is Ankara’s warning about the prospect of changing the borders if Athens does not withdraw its troops from the islands.

“We will increase our forces in the Aegean to a level where no one can threaten the Blue Homeland,” Omer Celik said.

In this setting, AKP spokesman Omer Celik blamed the US for its support of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus and accused the Greek government of “aggressive, provocative and maximalist policies”. However, Mr. Celik announced that “because of this situation, Turkey will henceforth increase its military support to the TRNC and provide more weapons. In terms of the balance of power, Turkey will increase its forces in the Aegean to levels where no one can threaten the Blue Homeland, Land Homeland and Air Homeland,” he said. This statement shows Ankara’s intentions that in the coming days it plans to increase its military forces located opposite the Greek islands.

Mr. Erdogan, in his speech to the Turkish parliament, referring to the foreign policy of his country, stated that “78 cemeteries of fallen heroes [σ.σ. “μαρτύρων”] us in 34 different countries of the world draw the natural boundaries of our foreign policy. No one can limit Turkey’s horizon to 780,000 square kilometers.”