Turkey Slams Armenia's Statement On Sevres Peace Treaty, Eastern Mediterranean - Reports

The Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced on Monday Armenia's recent remarks on the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, a document aimed at establishing peace in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which according to Yerevan was violated by Ankara's destabilizing actions in the region, media reported

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2020) The Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced on Monday Armenia's recent remarks on the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, a document aimed at establishing peace in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which according to Yerevan was violated by Ankara's destabilizing actions in the region, media reported.

Last Monday, on the 100th anniversary of the peace treaty, 10 Armenian parties issued a joint statement reminding the international community of Turkey's obligation, as the defeated side of World War I, to recognize the countries gaining independence from it and clarifying new borders with neighbors. The treaty was rejected by Ankara.

"We see that Armenia, which attempts to present an opinion on the Eastern Mediterranean, is in fundamental error about world geography and its place in this geography. The issue here is not Lake Sevan [in Armenia], but the Eastern Mediterranean," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said, as cited by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

Yerevan's statement also came amid rising geopolitical tensions between Greece, Cyprus and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean. On Sunday, Ankara announced it was sending a drillship with a military escort to the waters off the southwestern coast of Cyprus to conduct what it called seismological research until September 15.

Cyprus issued a warning via international maritime safety service Navtex, saying that Turkish activities in its exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf were "unauthorized and illegal."

"No matter what happens, Turkey will protect its rights and the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the eastern Mediterranean stemming from international law. No alliance of evil can afford to prevent that. Those who think otherwise have not learned anything from history," Aksoy noted.

The diplomat added, as cited by the news agency, that Turkey was standing by its brotherly nation, Azerbaijan, by all means.

The relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan deteriorated in mid-July, as clashes broke out in the northern part of the border region. The countries blamed the initiation of fire on each other.

Shortly into the escalation, Ankara sent a warplane and troops to Azerbaijan to attend large-scale military drills near the Armenian borders, which prompted Armenia to ban Turkey from conducting aerial military inspections of its territory under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.