GREEK REPORT - Greece Rejects Turkey’s Protests Over Patriot Deployment on Karpathos - By Tasos Kokkinidis - March 5, 2026

 GREEK REPORT

Greece Rejects Turkey’s Protests Over Patriot Deployment on Karpathos

By

Tasos Kokkinidis

March 5, 2026

Greece Turkey Patriot missiles

Greece says Turkey’s claims regarding the “demilitarized status” of the islands are “unfounded.” Public Domain

Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded swiftly to Turkey’s protests regarding the deployment of Patriot missile systems to Karpathos. Rejecting Turkey’s claims, Athens framed the move as a necessary measure for national security amid the ongoing instability in the Middle East.

In a firm official statement, the Ministry characterized Turkey’s claims regarding the “demilitarized status” of the islands as “unfounded” and noted that they have been repeatedly and comprehensively rejected by Greece in the past. Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry formally protested the deployment, issuing a sharp statement that reiterates Ankara’s long-standing claims regarding the “demilitarized status” of the Dodecanese islands.

The Ministry insisted that there is no ambiguity regarding the legal status of the Eastern Aegean and Dodecanese islands. Ankara asserts that these areas were placed under a demilitarized status in accordance with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris.

The statement accused specific, unnamed “circles” of attempting to exploit current regional instability to create “new faits accomplis,” alleging that these actions aim to “poison bilateral relations” between Turkey and its NATO ally, Greece.

Greece responds to Turkey accusations over Patriot deployment

Athens’ counter-arguments centered on several legal and strategic pillars.

Legal foundations: Greece reaffirmed that the status of the Eastern Aegean islands is definitively settled by three major international agreements:

The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne

The 1936 Montreux Convention

The 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy (Treaty of Paris)

The “Signatory” Argument: Athens explicitly highlighted that Turkey is not a signatory party to the 1947 Treaty of Paris, which ceded the Dodecanese to Greece, implying that Ankara has no legal standing to invoke that treaty to challenge Greek sovereignty or defensive posture.

Non-negotiable defense: The Ministry declared that Greece’s defensive arrangements are “non-negotiable.” It framed the current military preparedness not as an act of aggression but as a mandatory response to the “war-like conditions” in the wider region.

A call for temperance: Athens criticized Turkey’s statement as “weak rhetoric,” arguing that the prevailing regional uncertainty and the risk of further escalation necessitate “prudence and sobriety” rather than confrontational posturing.

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