Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in Kastellorizo on Friday afternoon for a three-day visit carrying strong national, geopolitical and economic symbolism, as tension rises again in the Aegean and Ankara repeats revisionist rhetoric toward Greece.
Mitsotakis is accompanied by his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, the speaker of the Greek parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, and senior government officials. According to broadcaster ERTnews, the central message of the trip is that "no one is alone," even in the most remote parts of the country.
Kastellorizo is Greece's easternmost inhabited island, sitting in the eastern Mediterranean just off the southern coast of Turkey. The island has long been a focal point of disputes between Athens and Ankara over maritime boundaries and sovereignty in the region.
Saturday itinerary on Megisti and outlying islets
Saturday's schedule includes a meeting with the mayor of Megisti, Nikolaos Asvestis, and a tour of infrastructure projects that have been completed or are still underway on the island.
Mitsotakis is also expected to travel to the islets of Ro and Strongyli, both of particular significance to the Kastellorizo island complex. On Ro, he is expected to pay tribute to Despina Achladioti, known as the "Lady of Ro," who for decades raised the Greek flag on the islet and became a symbol of continuous Greek presence there. The visit to Strongyli, the easternmost inhabited point of Greek territory, further reinforces the symbolism of the tour.
Airspace violations ahead of the visit
The trip comes a day after renewed Turkish activity in the Aegean. According to figures from the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, three pairs of Turkish F-16 fighter jets and three unmanned aircraft carried out ten violations of Greek airspace, along with an equal number of violations of air traffic rules.
Four of the Turkish fighter jets were armed, and two engagements were recorded with Greek aircraft that scrambled to identify and intercept them. The close timing of the incidents to the prime minister's arrival in Kastellorizo has added further political weight to his presence there.
The backdrop also includes Turkey's declaration of a marine park in the eastern Mediterranean, which, in the Greek reading, attempts to cut Kastellorizo off from the rest of the island chain, as well as a NAVTEX notice issued for the research vessel TUBITAK MARMARA south of the island, to which Athens responded with a counter-NAVTEX.
"Stability does not mean retreat"
The position the prime minister is expected to repeat is that Greece seeks open channels of communication and good neighborly relations, but rules out any discussion of matters of sovereignty and sovereign rights. He has said that stability does not in any way mean retreat, nor tolerance of faits accomplis.
The visit concludes on Sunday with Mitsotakis attending events marking the 83rd anniversary of the liberation of Kastellorizo, where he is due to deliver a speech.
