Greek-Turkish: Loud responses from Athens, Paris and Washington to the “madness” of Ankara – Newsbomb – News
Greek-Turkish: Mouth-watering responses to Turkey, not only from the directly affected Greece, but also from France and the USA. “Think about it three or four times” the Greek Foreign Minister called on those who dream of…invasion.
“Fotia” has been taken by the Turkish editor in the last 24 hours, with Ankara’s propaganda hitting “red”. “Military” media they even went so far as to accuse Newsbomb.gr of being a “laundromat” for Lavrio’s structure where Kurdish immigrants are hosted, saying that PKK insurgents are trained there. That, however, was the least of it in front of the straights Erdogan’s threats to invade Greece and on Cavusoglu’s outrageous letters to the international community in the reports that our country has maximalist tendencies and is illegal at the expense of Turkey!
The responses, however, to Ankara were multiple and resounding. First, the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on two occasions – in meetings with the president of Slovakia and the Foreign Minister of France – he condemned Tayyip Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric and spoke clearly about a Turkey that undermines security and stability in the area. Mr. Mitsotakis clarified how it is unacceptable for a NATO member country to receive threats from an allied country.
The presence of the French foreign minister in Athens, however, also gave Nikos Dendias the opportunity to give a resounding response to the highly provocative rhetoric of the Turks. The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs clarified that the “Neo-Ottoman dailiki are not accepted». At the same time, he explained with evidence and facts why Turkey is the one that threatens Greece with war every day. The “we are not afraid, we are not afraid” of the Greek minister was clear to Ankara. At the same time, Mr. Dendias explained that Turkey cannot present itself as the “victim” of the Aegean at a time when it has proceeded to 6,100 violations of the Greek airspace, 157 overflights and 1,000 violations of territorial waters. The clear reference to Occupied Cyprus and the instrumentalization of immigration was another message.
The preparedness and the clear position of Greece, which always acts on the basis of International law and Law of the Sea, became even clearer from Mr. Dendia’s answer to a question about Tayyip Erdogan’s reference to a possible Turkish invasion of Greece. “Think about it three or four times“, the foreign minister urged the Turks as he said “We are sufficient to defend our homeland, territorial independence and integrity».
The fact, however, that the French minister reminded the strategic agreement signed by Paris and Athens, it was still “blow” for Ankara. Responding to a question about how France will stand by Greece, in the context of the defense agreement between the two countries in September 2021, if the threats become concrete and if there is an escalationCatherine Colonna assured that “we are all doing everything in our power so that we do not end up in the situation you described. That is, to be active so that we do not find ourselves in this situation».
However, the French foreign minister continued, if such a thing happened, “indeed we have signed a corporate strategic cooperation agreementand of course, Article 21 describes exactly this case, and describes that if the two parties find that there is a armed attack on the territory of one or another country there is mutual assistance».
At the same time as the statements of the Foreign Ministers of Greece and France, the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, from Kastoria where it was found that Turkey has gone to such extreme rhetoric as it sees the superiority of Greece in the Armed Forces.
“Turkey is mainly worried because Greece is getting stronger. And it is getting stronger because for some time now we have had a support plan at all levels of all branches Armed forces», said Mr. Panagiotopoulos, commenting on Erdogan’s recent statements, during his tour, head of the government echelon. “In any case, we we prefer to answer with logicnot to raise the tone to an offensive level towards the other side and above all to respond with works“, he added.
The finishing blow for the previous 24 hours, of course, he came from the other side of the Atlantic and the resounding intervention of the State Department. When asked by Greek correspondents about Turkey’s continuous challenges and the questioning of the sovereignty of the Greek islands, the representative of the State Department replied that “at a time when Russia has again invaded a sovereign state, statements that could raise tensions between NATO Allies they are particularly counterproductive».
He then added that “The United States continues to encourage NATO Allies to work together to maintain peace and security in the region and to resolve disputes through diplomacy. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and be protected».
Finally, he clarified that “Greece’s sovereignty over these islands is undisputedj. We call on all parties to refrain from rhetoric and actions that could increase tension».
It is, of course, considered a given that with everything that took place in the previous 24 hours, there will be new round of provocative statements and threats from Ankara. The “history” of Erdogan and his officials has shown that when they are “squeezed” by the international community, the positions against their absurdity, they become even more “aggressive”. With an Erdoğan in a nervous breakdown we will have to describe a new reaction…