A timetable of the new tensions with Turkey was given by the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview to ERT, claiming that Turkey took the first step of provocation, after the latest meeting with the Turkish president in Istanbul. At the same time, he clarified that Greece will not enter into any discussion regarding the sovereignty of the islands.
"From our conversation onwards, while the first weeks were relatively calm, there was a crescendo of overflights over the islands of the Eastern Aegean, which directly violated the red line that I myself had drawn to President Erdogan"
"Consequently, Turkey was the one that took the 'first step of provocation and tension' in terms of Greek-Turkish relations."
Never is Greece going to enter into any discussion regarding the sovereignty of our islands
Asked what Greece will do if Turkey makes an aggressive move, the Greek Prime Minister stressed: "We will do whatever is necessary and the Greeks should feel completely safe. The country does not just have a strong deterrent capability, which we have taken care to strengthen during these three years, it also has very strong allies."
"Alliances exist precisely to act as a deterrent to anyone who may be seeking sovereignty or sovereign rights. "And in the worst case, they can be activated if the country is attacked in any way."
Kyriakos Mitsotakis also referred to the need for Turkey not to detect threats as a cover to its internal economic problems. Nobody believes that Greece is threatening Turkey, he said characteristically.
"Turkey is facing significant economic difficulties and my view it's wrong to find so-called threats against Turkey at this time in order to shift the debate from internal problems. "I do not believe that there is anyone, even in Turkey, who actually thinks, that Greece can threaten Turkey today."
As for whether he intends to meet with Turkish President Erdogan after the "Mitsotakis Yok", the Greek Prime Minister answered in the affirmative, but stressed that a dialogue with the absurd can not be done, as what Turkey says about the islands is absurd:
"Legally, at some point we will meet and as I said to him, we must be able to agree that we disagree and understand that the arguments can not touch the realm of irrationality. "With the absurd we can not have a dialogue and what Turkey says about the islands is absurd."
Meanwhile, tensions were raised in Istanbul between Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and a delegation of Greek lawmakers attending a meeting of the NATO parliamentary committee. Mr Akar again raised the issue of territorial waters. He accused Greece of being the first to violate Turkish airspace and Turkey followed because it could not sit idly by:
"On April 27. What did you expect us to do after that? Will you come from so many kilometers, hundreds of kilometers from the interior of Greece to the Turkish hinterland, will you violate our airspace and will we sit and watch you? No. We violated your airspace on the 28th ".
The head of the Greek delegation, ND MP Spilios Libanos, immediately asked why Turkish politicians have been constantly referring to the revised idea of the Blue Homeland lately, but also to the threat of war, the "casus belli" that Turkey has been invoking for years, to a NATO ally.
Turkish politicians have been constantly referring to the revising idea of the "Blue Homeland" for the last 15 to 20 days and in the past as well". "Remember that for decades you had us as allies, we are all allies in NATO. And now casus belli against us? Never in the world and in history has an ally threatened another ally with war (casus belli) for decades. "And we have continuous violations of our territorial waters, of our national airspace and overflights over Greek islands", stressed Mr. Libanos.
In a new statement, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg states:
"In the past, there have been accidents with Greek and Turkish forces. We must do everything we can to help reduce the risk of such accidents. We urge Greece and Turkey to resolve their differences in the Aegean in a spirit of trust and allied solidarity. "This means restraint, moderation and abstaining from any action or rhetoric that could escalate the situation."
At the same time, the Turkish nationalist and government partner Devlet Bahceli even threatened Athens: "Those who dream of bombing the bridges of Istanbul will see, if necessary, that Athens be demolished on their heads and they will see how cool and deep the waters of the Aegean are, paying a heavy price", said Bahceli.
Turkey is getting isolated was the response of the Greek government spokesman Giannis Economou.
"Myths and baseless allegations do not affect Greek sovereignty in the slightest". "No one accepts or supports the non-existent Turkish allegations and aggression, which leads the neighbor to isolation and marginalization."
Greece's next diplomatic missions are on June 17th with the Greek Prime Minister's visit to Cyprus, the European Council meeting on June 23-24 and the NATO Summit on June 29-30.
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