ANKARA

A Norway-based NGO has supported Türkiye’s opposition to the militarization of Greek islands in the Aegean, saying such a move can be “provocation.”

In response to a tweet by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Aegean Boat Report wrote: “Filling the islands with American military equipment can be seen, by some, as a provocation, especially since it’s a violation of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.”

Türkiye has been arguing that the militarization of the islands violation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.

The NGO was targeted by Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi after its response to Mitsotakis.

Mitarachi claimed that the Aegean Boat Report helps people smuggle and “may be (it's) financed by the East.”

Aegean Boat Report strongly denied accusations, saying Mitarachi's claims are “lies” in a statement.

“Both claims Mr. Mitarachi has made about us are false, and it is impossible to believe that he does not know this. Deliberately spreading false information is lying,” said the statement.

Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months, including arming islands near Turkish shores that are demilitarized under treaty obligations, saying that such moves frustrate its good faith efforts towards peace.