Panagiotopoulos responded to provocative statements by Turkish counterpart

Greek National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos responded on Thursday to statements by his Turkish counterpart who was reported as saying that 16 Greek islands must be demilitarized, "Whatever is being threatened is not demilitarized."

Ministry sources also added that according to the UN charter, Article 51, a country has the legal right to defend itself against any threat to any part of its territory, whether mainland or island. They said that the specific provision obligates and lawfully allows Greece to take all necessary preventative defense measures to protect the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea