Erdoğan tells Greece to stop arming ‘demilitarized’ islands

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Greece must “turn back from the wrong path” and halt the militarization of Aegean islands that Ankara considers bound by demilitarized status. He spoke to journalists on 2 September 2026 on the flight home from Kyrgyzstan after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

“Greece needs to understand this once and for all: Türkiye has no designs on anyone else’s territory, but it will not allow anyone to trample on its rights,” Erdoğan said. “Greece should turn back from the wrong path it has taken and stop militarizing the islands that have demilitarized status. History is a very good guide for those who learn from it.”

Asked what Turkey would do if the arming continued, he said Ankara would “do what is necessary.” He added that anyone who reads Turkey’s “calm and prudent approach” as weakness is making a “grave mistake,” that ignoring treaties helps no one, and that good-neighborly relations should be the basis of ties with Athens.

The comments followed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s public line that regional defense plans would not change despite Turkish objections.

The legal argument

Turkey’s case rests on the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Ankara says eastern Aegean islands and the Dodecanese—transferred from Italy to Greece after World War II—were placed under a demilitarized regime and that new bases, air-defense systems, or UAV facilities violate that status.

Greece rejects that reading. Athens argues that self-defense is non-negotiable, that Turkey is not a party to the 1947 Paris Treaty in the way Ankara claims, and that the security environment has changed since 1974 and amid current regional tensions. Greek officials have denied plans for a permanent drone base on Rhodes while saying drones are used from existing facilities as needed.

Recent flashpoints

In late August, Turkey’s Defense Ministry objected to reported UAV activity on Rhodes and called Greece’s relocation of Patriot batteries from Karpathos to Crete a “positive step.” Greece has also submitted a Maritime Spatial Plan under EU rules; Ankara says parts of it encroach on Turkish maritime claims and will not have legal effect for Turkey.

The islands dispute is a long-running Aegean issue, alongside airspace, continental shelf, and energy projects. Erdoğan’s remarks restated a standing Turkish red line rather than announcing a new operational step.

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