Greek media claimed that Turkey annexed the rock by announcing in an official message that it was located on its territory, according to the Turkish newspaper “Economic”.
What is giraffe rock?
- It is located between Gokce and Enez Island in the Aegean Sea.
- Its size is 9 square metres, and its coastline is 32 metres.
- It is 6.4 miles from the Greek island of Samothrace and 14.2 miles from the Turkish mainland.
- It is a structure on which Greece poured concrete into the sea, and built a lighthouse on it in the 1980s. Therefore, it claims that the rock is located on its territory.
- Disputes broke out over Giraffe Rock on January 13, 2016, when a Turkish Sikorsky helicopter flew over the area. Athens responded that the helicopter had flown over Greek territory, and that it would demand its rights before international authorities.
- Turkey is currently conducting naval exercises in the region, scheduled to continue until November 2.
- Greece informed Turkey in a memorandum that the area in which Giraffe Rock is located belongs to it, and no maneuver can be conducted there.
- Turkey sent a memorandum to Greece on Tuesday stating that the region is within Turkish sovereignty.
The former Secretary General of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, retired Colonel Umit Yalem, warned that Greece would invade the island, saying in a statement that Greece had “occupied” 18 Turkish islands and one rock in the Aegean Sea, and “now they will occupy Giraffe Island under the pretext of establishing bird observatories.” Never give this a chance.”
Possibilities of clash
Turkish political analyst Gawad Gok told Sky News Arabia that these small islands, or rather the rock formations, could not be agreed upon, nor was it indicated that they were Greek. Therefore, it remains subject to Turkish sovereignty, and this is the position that Ankara sees.
Regarding the ongoing Turkish maneuvers, Gok says that their goal is to respond to the United States and Greece after they conducted military maneuvers in this region.
Fiery statements are often issued by the governments of Turkey and Greece regarding the border areas, and accusations, threats, and threats are exchanged, but in the end nothing happens, and military confrontations are out of the question, especially since the two countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to Gok.
The Aegean Islands have always been the spark of tension between Athens and Ankara, and one of the last of these tensions was September 2022, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the presence of a Greek military deployment, via armored vehicles, on the islands of Samos and Lesbos, while Athens responded that Ankara was the one “violating” Greece’s sovereignty. By flying its planes over Greek territory.
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