Athens is hardening its stance and “waiting” for Erdogan – These are the “stopping” days for the summer.
Athens is trying to boomerang the return of the escalation of provocation to Ankara with a focus on the Aegean.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the most of the opportunity of the EU Summit, on the one hand to mobilize the partners, on the other hand to send an emphatic message to Turkey that the revision and the questioning of sovereignty are not tolerated and will receive appropriate and decisive answers.
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The Prime Minister -as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs- seizes the opportunity and, now, in all their public appearances, they take care to insult the Greek-Turkish ones, escalating – in a very careful way – their rhetoric towards the Turkish provocation that is on the rise.
Following Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to cut off all communication bridges with Athens, and personally with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister lifted the gauntlet from the Turkish president amid his non-existent allegations about Greek islands, closing the door to dialogue as much as the neighboring one. . country does not comply with international law. At the same time, with his moves, he is trying to raise the diplomatic wall that is being built opposite Ankara. This effort also includes the German Chancellor’s visit to Athens on June 10.
During his presence at the ONNED conference, Mr. Mitsotakis made it clear that every rhetorical offensive step by Turkey turns into another step of their own retreat to the margins and international isolation. “We live in reality, we wish that together with their name they change their logic, but we do not open a dialogue with the illegal, the unhistorical and the irrational,” he stressed.
His position on Turkey was similar when he gave an interview to Reuters.
“Greece will not tolerate aggressive behavior, revisionist rhetoric and actions that amount to violations of Greek sovereign rights and Greek sovereignty,” he said, throwing the ball to the Turkish president.
“I think it is up to Turkey to change its behavior. We have never been the ones to cross the line on aggression, but we are very confident that we have the ability to defend ourselves if the need arises and we are also very confident that we have allies who support us, the European Union and the United States.
According to the prime minister, Athens can not accept the absurd allegations about the sovereignty of the Greek islands, an issue that is now being raised by Turkish officials. In fact, in recent days a common government-opposition front has been created.
Kilicdaroglu is on Erdogan’s side
Turkey’s main opposition party, led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has sided with the government-Erdogan-Bahceli coalition on the issue of challenging the sovereignty of Greek islands in the Aegean.
Mr Kilicdaroglu called on the country’s president to move forward on the issue, creating a common front in Turkey against the islands.
The president of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) entered the game of claims after a question from the president of Turkey. In his speech, Erdogan addressed ten questions to Kilicdaroglu, questioning his patriotism. “In Turkey’s efforts to create permanent economic zones along the border in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, are you with Turkey or not?” Erdogan asked.
Kilicdaroglu responded to the Turkish president in a Twitter post: “It is imperative that we increase the pressure in the Mediterranean and the Aegean. These jobs do not come out on the ship, then withdrawing to say “I wish Biden would call me”. If your heart beats, take a step for the occupied islands, as well as for the militarized islands. We will support you “.
Preparing for a warm July with “Cesme”
So, this polarized climate that Ankara has created has put Athens on alert, which is calmly watching the challenges, answering and declaring that it is ready for a warm summer.
“Turkey is challenging Greek sovereignty in the Aegean islands by making baseless allegations. We completely reject these allegations and are determined to defend our interests. “Our interests are based on international law, the law of the sea, our interests are based on the United Nations Charter,” said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias during his visit to Serbia.
For his part, the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, said that Turkey will pay a heavy cost if it dares military involvement. “I have repeatedly stressed that tensions do not offer either side. It is our capabilities that discourage the other side from embarking on military engagement. This is because they know the heavy costs they will have to pay. “The Armed Forces are always on the alert, on alert and determined.”
According to information, the government takes it for granted that soon, perhaps in July, Turkey will move from verbal provocations to actions.
On the “radar” of the Greek Pentagon has “locked” the Turkish drilling rig “Cesme” for its movements in the Aegean, there are four different scenarios:
- It will go close to Turkish shores and will not affect Greek and Cypriot sovereign rights.
- It will sail on a plot of land in the Cypriot EEZ.
- It will be placed on the borders of the EEZ that Athens has demarcated with Cairo.
- It will move south of Gavdos, inside the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum.
In any case, the answer will be immediate and in case Ankara differs from Rubicon – something of course which is undesirable – the Armed Forces will not leave του unaccompanied the Turkish convoy.
Until then, however, and as long as Turkey’s challenges remain on a verbal level, Athens is putting in two countries – stations that will judge a lot in view of the continuation and will reveal Erdogan’s intentions.
This is the 23rd of June, where the EU Summit will be held in Brussels, as well as the 28th of June, with the holding of the NATO Summit in Madrid.
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