ANA-MPA — German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer declined to reply when asked whether the islands of Chios, Lesvos and Limnos were Greek, while claiming ignorance of statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan disputing the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.
“I do not know the statements of the Turkish president. I don’t want to doubt that he said this,” Schaefer told reporters when asked to comment. “For the German government I can say only that it is known that there have been differences for some time, for decades, differences of opinion between the two countries on delineating the borders between the two countries,” he said.
The German government considers that any differences between Greece and Turkey “should be resolved peacefully and otherwise refrains from expressing an opinion and definitely does not take anyone’s side,” he added.
When it was pointed out that Erdogan had referred specifically to islands, rather than borders, Schaefer again claimed ignorance of the statement and said he was therefore unable to give a response, repeating this when asked to say whether Chios, Lesvos and Limnos were Greek islands.
“From the point of view of the German government, the Treaty of Lausanne is still in force,” a German foreign ministry spokesman told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency in a further statement on Friday, clarifying the position of the German government on the issue.
