Troubled relations between regional rivals Turkey and Greece worsened on Tuesday, with Turkey’s president doubling down on a thinly veiled invasion threat and Athens responding that it is ready to defend its sovereignty.
Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. The friction between the neighbors has brought the NATO allies to the brink of war three times in the past half-century.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could “come all of a sudden one night” in response to perceived Greek threats, suggesting a Turkish attack on its neighbor cannot be ruled out.
Photo: AP
Erdogan faces elections next year, as does Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and increasing rhetoric against Greece would rally his nationalist base amid Turkey’s economic troubles.
Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias said that for days Turkish officials have been making “outrageous comments” against Greece, including Erdogan’s remarks that he said suggested Turkey “could invade” the Greek islands.
Ankara says Greece is violating international agreements by militarizing islands close to Turkey’s Aegean coastline. It has also accused Greek air defenses of locking on to Turkish fighter jets.
Dendias said Greece needs to defend its eastern Aegean Sea islands — including tourist hotspots Rhodes and Kos, which are much closer to Turkey than to the Greek mainland — against its larger and militarily stronger neighbor.
“The Turkish side maintains that these islands are under Greek occupation,” he said.
“Let me point out that opposite the Aegean islands is stationed the biggest landing fleet in Europe and a full Turkish army group,” he added.
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