Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt on Monday, with the top US diplomat reiterating Washington’s position that Greek sovereignty over the islands is unquestionable.
The meeting focused on Greece-US strategic cooperation, the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean in the light of recent provocative statements by Turkish officials, and developments in Eastern Europe.
READ MORE: Greek Foreign Minister informs US State Department about Turkey’s ‘provocative’ actions.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” US Ambassador Pyatt said on Twitter after the meeting.
“As we discussed our common goals for regional stability, I reaffirmed what Washington has made clear: Greece’s sovereignty over its islands is unquestionable.”
READ MORE: EU says Greece’s sovereignty over its islands is ‘unquestionable’.
On Friday, Washington made a clear and a direct rejection of claims made by Turkey’s Foreign Minister that sovereignty of islands in the east Aegean was conditional on Greece not militarising them under the Lausanne (1923) and Paris (1947) Treaties.
“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and protected. The sovereignty of Greece over these islands is not in question,” a US State Department spokesman said in a statement.
Greece has always dismissed these claims, responding that as long as there is a Turkish military threat to these islands they will not be demilitarised.
READ MORE: ‘Beyond logic’: Greece rejects Turkey’s renewed demand for demilitarisation of islands.
Source: Protothema.
