In October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the post-World War I Lausanne Treaty, saying it was forced on Turkey by its opponents. He added that Turkey ceded islands with Turkish sanctuaries and mosques to Greece under the treaty.
Following Erdogan's remarks about the 1923 treaty, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the Turkish leader's statements threatened bilateral ties between Ankara and Athens.
The Lausanne Treaty defined the boundaries of the modern state of Turkey and included provisions under which Ankara lost control over vast territories, which are now parts of Syria, Greece, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
The Aegean dispute has been a major source of tension between Greece and Turkey since the 1970s, bringing the two countries to the brink of military confrontation in 1987 and 1996. Talks to resolve the issue began after 1999, when Turkey agreed to resolve the bilateral dispute as part of its accession deal with the European Union.
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