Turkey again threatens Greece for arming Aegean islands

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister has again threatened to “take action” against Greece if it continues to deploy weapons on its Aegean islands which Ankara says should remain demilitarized in line with international treaties. Mevlut Cavusoglu’s comments Tuesday follow reports of military exercises by Greece on the Aegean islands of Rhodes and Lesbos. Turkish officials insist the deployment of soldiers or weapons on some islands close to its coast are in violation of their nonmilitary status according to international law. Athens says it needs to defend the islands against a potential attack from Turkey. It notes that Turkey has a sizeable military force on the western Turkish coast just across form the islands.