Greek PM to Visit Key Islets Near Turkish Coast Central to Athens' EEZ claims

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit Kastellorizo on Saturday, taking his government’s message to Greece’s easternmost island as maritime tensions with Türkiye again sharpen in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The trip will also include Ro and Strongyli, two small islets that carry outsized significance in Athens’ effort to connect Greek and Greek Cypriot maritime zones.

Kastellorizo, known as Meis in Türkiye, lies roughly 2 km from the Turkish coast.

Its location has made the island one of the most sensitive points in the competing maritime positions advanced by Athens and Ankara.

Visit Extends Beyond Kastellorizo

Kastellorizo Mayor Nikolaos Asvestis told Parapolitika that Mitsotakis would visit both Ro and Strongyli during the trip.

The prime minister is also expected to pay tribute to the Lady of Ro, a figure associated with the small island.

Political and military officials are expected to accompany Mitsotakis, according to the Greek reporting.

The trip coincides with the anniversary of Kastellorizo’s "liberation" on September 13, 1943, when the Greek destroyer Navarchos Kountouriotis entered the island’s harbor.

Maritime Claims at Center of Trip

For Athens, the Kastellorizo group is central to its position on an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Asvestis described the area as capable of forming a maritime link between Greece and Cyprus.

Geographically, Kastellorizo is also presented by Greece as a key element in any future delimitation involving Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

Türkiye rejects the extent of the maritime effect claimed for the small island group, which sits close to the Anatolian mainland and far from continental Greece.

That disagreement has repeatedly turned Kastellorizo into a focal point in the wider Greek-Turkish dispute over maritime jurisdiction.

Fresh Navtex Dispute

The visit follows another confrontation over waters near Meis.

Türkiye issued a Navtex for scientific activities by the TUBITAK MARMARA research vessel between September 1 and 15, 2026.

Greece responded with a counter-Navtex, asserting that the area fell under Greek jurisdiction and that Ankara should seek permission.

The dispute again exposed the incompatible maritime positions maintained by the two countries.

Athens has also sought to advance its maritime position through maritime spatial planning, while Türkiye argues that unilateral maps cannot determine jurisdiction in contested waters.

Erdogan Warns Greece Over Islands

The Kastellorizo trip also comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Athens against further military activity on islands that Ankara says hold demilitarized status.

“Greece must turn back from this wrong path and stop arming the islands with demilitarized status,” Erdogan said.

“Türkiye has no eyes on anyone’s land, but it will not allow anyone to trample on its rights,” he added.

Erdogan also warned against interpreting Ankara’s restraint as weakness.

“Whoever reads Türkiye’s calm and prudent approach as weakness is making a grave mistake,” he said.

Island Mayor Dismisses Fears

Asvestis, meanwhile, characterized recent Turkish actions as another display of pressure and said residents were accustomed to such rhetoric.

He said there was no fear on the island at the current stage and argued that international law and established maritime zones should be respected.

The mayor also said Kastellorizo receives about 50,000 visits annually from the nearby Turkish coast, underscoring the contrast between daily cross-border movement and the island’s role in the broader geopolitical dispute.