“Greece will not accept instructions from Ankara,” Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis responded to provocative comments by his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan who accused Athens of pursuing “cheap politics.”
“Greece neither has phobic syndromes nor defines itself in reference to Turkey. And we do not accept instructions from anyone,” FM Gerapetritis said on Friday.
He added that Greece’s assertive foreign policy should be respected. “We understand the tension that may be caused by Greece’s strong and active foreign policy. Let everyone become familiar with this reality and not turn embarrassment into hostility,” he sadded, noting that good-neighborly relations “are not promoted by intemperate and untimely statements.”
In his interview with TGRT Haber, Fidan turned also against Greek Defense Minister, Nikos Dendias, of whom he particularly claimed that “every time he has a problem, he constantly makes statements against Turkey.”
He said about Greek politicians in general that “fear does not benefit them either, it leads them to constant panic.” He added “we hope they’ll reach the same maturity and stability as we do.”
A sharp response came also from Minister Dendias, who is in Copenhagen participating in the informal meeting of EU Defense Ministers.
“I particularly regret the statements made by Fidan, of which I was informed. Apart from being completely unacceptable and inappropriate, they violate a principle known even to first-year diplomats: The principle of non-interference in the internal politics of other countries. So I sincerely regret that this path was chosen.”
Note that Dendias served also as Foreign Minister from 2019 to 2023.
While it appears that Greek-Turkish relations experience a period not the usual and frequent tensions as in the past the reality is different: Ankara is especially annoyed by the Greek Marine Parks in the Aegean Sea, while Athens si monitoring with suspicion the rapprochement between Turkey and Libya.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2025/08/29/greece-turkey-provocative-comments-fidan/&media=https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gerapetritis.jpg&description="Greece will not accept instructions from Ankara," Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis responded to provocative comments by his Turkish){kind=link}
Everyone, including the Turks, knows that the instructions must come from Washington DC, Berlin or Paris. Not Ankara!