Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Greek government of militarising its islands in the Aegean Sea and hinted that the use of force could be an option if Athens does not stop.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, Russia, September 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/VLADIMIR SMIRNOV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter in Greek, Turkish and English on Thursday that Greece could face a “tragic ending” if it militarises islands in the Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast.
“We warn Greece once more to avoid dreams, statements and actions that will lead to regret, as it did a century ago, and to return to its senses,” Erdogan said, in a reference to Greece’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922.
“Turkey neither violates anyone’s rights or law, nor lets anyone violate its own,” he declared.
Erdogan issued his statement on Twitter just hours after he observed a large Turkish military exercise near the port city of Izmir, which is only few miles away from Greek islands in the Aegean.
He hinted that use of force is an option if Greece does not comply.
“Turkey will not relinquish its rights in the Aegean and will not refrain from using the powers granted to it by international agreements for the armament of the islands when necessary,” he said.
In the century-old dispute between Turkey and Greece over the Aegean, the two countries have often quarrelled about the delimitation of territorial waters and national airspace. Turkey rejects Greek claims over certain areas of the Aegean and claims that Athens has been militarising islands which are supposed to be demilitarised according to international treaties.
“Including demilitarised islands in various [military] exercises and seeking to use NATO and third party countries as a tool in this unlawfulness is nothing but an effort that will have a tragic ending,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan’s statements made headlines in both countries and Greek politicians responded swiftly.
“We have a neighbour that is as isolated as it is angry,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, Kathimerini newspaper reported.
Mitsotakis added that he will inform the EU and European leaders about “Turkish provocations”.
“It is noteworthy that President Erdogan chose to speak in Greek. It is known that Greek is the language of logic, freedom and law. Its native users and the Western world know this very well. The tactics chosen by Turkey do not fall into any of these versions,” Giannis Oikonomou, the Greek government’s spokesperson, wrote on Twitter.
Mutual hostility is nothing new in Turkish-Greek relations but in recent years there have been bitter rows over energy supplies in the East Mediterranean, the Aegean islands and the refugee crisis.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, there was some rapprochement between Ankara and Athens but the mood of optimism did not last long as both governments deployed nationalistic rhetoric ahead of elections.
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