Sourced : Proto Thema
The Turkish European Affairs Minister, Omer Celik made a statement claiming the island of Agathonisi was Turkish territory in an interview on Turkish television, Wednesday.
His statement came as a response to the recent visit during Easter to the island by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, who Mr. Celik attacked personally saying his trip there was not a “serious move”.
Commenting on the issue of the 8 Turkish military officers who have been granted political asylum by Greek court, he demanded they be extradited.
“They must return the murderers immediately”, he said. His interview comes a day after another Turkish Minister said that Turkey would not allow Greece to establish a status of “a fait accompli” in the “disputed” areas in the Aegean Sea.
According to the Greek Statistic Authority census of 2011 the population of Agathonisi was 185 people of whom 168 lived in Megálo Chorió, and only 17 in Mikró Chorió. The municipality of Agathonisi, which includes the uninhabited offshore islets of Gláros, Kounéli, Nerá, and Psathonísio, has a combined land area of 14.500 square kilometres (5.598 square miles).
The island-dependent from Patmos island-was occupied in 1912 by the Kingdom of Italy during the Italo-turkish war and, after being part of the Italian Islands of the Aegean, was ceded from Italy to Greece in 1947.