The United States confirmed that Greece's sovereignty over two islands in the Aegean Sea is not "in question", after Ankara formally protested the Greek military deployment in the two islands.

"Greece's sovereignty over these two islands is not in doubt," State Department spokesman Ned Price told the press on Wednesday.

"We call on all parties to avoid rhetoric and to avoid taking steps that may exacerbate tensions," he added, noting that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected."

On Monday, Turkey summoned the Greek ambassador in Ankara, and issued a "memorandum of protest" to the United States, in which it demanded "respect for the status of the two islands in the eastern Aegean" and urged Washington to "take measures to prevent the use of weapons" in the region.

On Sunday, Ankara condemned the deployment of armored vehicles on the island of Samos, closer to Turkey, 1.3 km from its coast, and the island of Lesbos, 15 km from the Turkish coast.


Wisdom commitment

The Turkish National Security Council called on what it described as "the parties that encourage Greece" in the issue of arming islands in the Aegean Sea to "adhere to the side of wisdom", and said that Turkey would not refrain from using "all legitimate methods and tools" to protect the interests of its people against the efforts of Greece, which he described By "absurdity".

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also warned the United States that its support for Athens in arming the islands would open the door to an arms race in the region.

The Turkish president said - after the meeting of the Turkish National Security Council - that his country is waiting for the United States not to push Greece to engage in wrong calculations, and not to allow the manipulation of international public opinion.

In mid-September, Erdogan accused Greece of "occupying" islands in the Aegean Sea that had been taken by Greece after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, but Greek soldiers could not be stationed in them.

He warned that the Turkish military might "arrive overnight" and "do what is necessary" to enforce respect for the situation.

He explained that there is no way to compare Turkey's position in NATO with that of Greece, because the Turkish army is among the top five in the alliance, both in terms of the expenditures it pays or the ground forces and the strength it grants.

On the other hand, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that his country is "ready to confront" any threat to its sovereignty.