LAUSANNE

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar insisted again on Thursday that Greece is violating the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne by militarizing 16 islands in the eastern Aegean.

Reiterating a call frequently made by Turkish leaders, Turkey's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez raised the issue of renegotiating the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, which set out the modern borders between Greece and Turkey.

Turkey on Tuesday issued three navigational telexes (Navtex) covering large swathes of the Aegean Sea, saying it is in response to Greece's militarization of the eastern Aegean islands of Chios, Samos, Samothrace, Lemnos, Ikaria and Patmos.

Turkey slammed Greece on Aug. 11 over systematically closing down Turkish minority schools in the country's Western Thrace region, depriving the minority of the education of their choosing.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has negated his Greek counterpart's concerns of an armed conflict between Turkey and Greece over the maritime disputes in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, calling on Athens to resume technical talks for the resolution of the problems.

Turkey denounced Greece's parliament on May 19 for its "baseless and delirious statements" under the pretext of marking the anniversary of the start of the Turkish War of Independence on May 19, 1919.

Athens is on alert over attempts by Ankara to press a revisionist agenda, most recently by issuing navigational warnings (NAVWARNS) which were seen as an attempt to obstruct the Greek naval training exercise "Kataigida '20" that was originally scheduled to begin Monday.

All military exercises were postponed over the weekend amid concern over the spread of coronavirus.

The recent issue by Turkey of a series of navigational warnings (NAVWARNs) containing information for naval vessels is seen by top military sources as an attempt to raise obstacles to the Greek naval training exercise "Kataigida '20," which starts on Monday.

The Turkish minority in Greece is pushing for the inclusion of Turkish lessons in the curriculums of state kindergartens in regions where many Turkish Muslims live, they said in a joint statement on May 7.

As the Greek Education Ministry plans to start English-language activities in kindergartens next year, the Turkish minority asked the government to also offer Turkish lessons.

Turkey's "defenses and are not weak" and it will "not tolerate" any purported violations of its sovereign rights, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday, accusing Greece of breaching international law by keeping troops on the islands of the eastern Aegean.