ESTIA, the oldest newspaper in Greece still in circulation, had a headline claiming that Germany wants Greece to demilitarise its islands close to Turkey. The call later appeared at middleeastmonitor and became internationally known.

Speaking about the visit of the German Ambassador Ernst Reichel to the Greek parliament on Thursday, the newspaper said: “It was a real surprise.”

ESTIA said that the German diplomat said that his country “cannot show the utmost cruelty towards Turkey because if we do that we will destroy our ability to mediate.”

The newspaper also reported that Germany is telling Turkey to disband its army based in Izmir.

“Berlin is pressuring Athens and Ankara at the same time to withdraw troops, with the Army and the National Guard leaving our islands and islets, and another for Smyrni (Izmir),” the newspaper said.

“This is something that is the goal of Erdogan, whose appetite calls for the demilitarisation of Erimos, Agathonisi, Farmakonisi and Chios!” the newspaper continued.

It also reported the German ambassador stressing: “The Chancellor considers that it is her personal duty to avoid a military conflict and to have a peaceful border.”