Turkey’s latest dispute of Greek sovereignty in the east Aegean

In letters sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last July and September, Turkey for the first time disputed Greece’s sovereignty over its east Aegean islands. Over the years, Turkey has attempted to establish the Aegean as a disputed area, and has brought new issues to the table such as so-called gray zones and disputing Greece’s maritime boundaries and airspace.

Experts note that with this latest move, Turkey is piling on another dispute in order to avoid talking about the real issue, which is maritime zones. Turkey has rejected Greece’s proposal to settle maritime boundaries at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and observers believe Turkey’s latest disputation of sovereignty is an elaborate way of avoiding going to the ICJ. John Psaropoulos joins our host Thanos Davelis with the latest analysis. 

Psaropoulos is an independent journalist based in Athens and Al Jazeera’s southeast Europe correspondent.