Frosty atmosphere between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the European Political Community summit in Prague, where the two leaders did not even exchanged a glance when they headed to the group photo opportunity.
Once again Erdogan verbally attacked Greece accusing it of creating tensions and provocations in the Aegean Sea.
The Turkish president made his accusations also at the official Summit dinners and openly threatened Greece again with war reiterating ““we may suddenly arrive one night” – a comment that Greek and some other Western officials have condemned as a threat to a neighboring state.
Erdogan’s claims fell on deaf ears both in the security panel he participated and the bilateral contacts he held in Prague on Thursday, Greek media report citing government sources.
French president Emmanuel Macron reportedly told Erdogan during a tête-à-tête meeting that he should stop the tactic of escalation and to follow the path of dialogue based on International Law.
The Greek mission was aware that Erdogan had asked to speak during the dinner. During his intervention, he appeared negative regarding the EU’s handling of Turkey and he verbally attacked Greece.
Among others he said there was nothing worth discussing with Greece at the moment and accused Athens of provocations and tension creation.
The lead to a heated exchange with the Greek PM Mitsotakis who immediately responded that Turkey must stop questioning the sovereignty of Greece’s Aegean islands.
He also called on Erdogan to refrain from further provocations and said that there should be communication and dialogue without extreme rhetoric, like responsible leaders should do.
Turkish media reported Friday afternoon that Erdogan was furious about Mitsotakis’ response saying “I don’t know who gave permission to Mitsotakis to respond to me. I will not fall down to his level.”
This did not hinder Erdogan to continue his attacks on Greece at a press conference that followed. “They are not where they are supposed to be,” Erdogan said .“Their entire policy is based on lies, they are not honest. We have nothing to discuss with Greece.”
Threatening Greece with an invasion at night and he said that he does not question the sovereignty of the Greek islands and that Greece is the one that does not come to the dialogue.
Erdogan said Athens understood Ankara’s message when Turkish officials have said “we may suddenly arrive one night.”
The Greek side reiterated that their positions are known and that no one can question Greek sovereignty over the Aegean islands.
