Turkiye Denies Media Reports About 'Joint Patrols' With Greece in Aegean Sea

ANKARA, (Sputnik) - The Turkish Center for Combating Disinformation on Saturday denied media reports that Ankara and Athens would allegedly carry out "joint patrols" in the Aegean Sea and the Evros River.

"Claims by some media and outlets that 'Turkish-Greek troops will conduct joint patrols' are not true. [Turkish] Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Christos Stylianides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation during the talks between the delegations," the center said in a statement received by Sputnik.

The center added that the delegations discussed ways to jointly combat illegal migration and migrant smuggling, as well as strengthen cooperation and communication between the coast guards of Turkiye and Greece.

"It was not decided during the talks that Turkiye and Greece would carry out joint patrols in the Aegean Sea and the Evros River," the statement said.

NATO allies Greece and Turkiye have been at odds for decades, with the risk of an armed conflict arising several times. The disputed issues include competing territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean, in particular in the region of the Aegean Sea, the Greek-Turkish divide in Cyprus, and the delimitation of maritime boundaries. Turkiye has repeatedly accused Greece of deploying weapons on the Aegean Islands in violation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens in early December 2023, said there are no issues between Turkiye and Greece that cannot be resolved. The Greek prime minister echoed these remarks, saying that Greece and Turkiye should live in peace, while disagreements should not immediately cause tensions.