The strengthening of Greece causes irritation in Turkey – How Athens responds

By Penelope Galliou

Athens is erecting a wall of power against the new war crescendo of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, declaring that North Korea’s mentality does not fit within NATO. “It is unacceptable and universally condemnable to issue threats of a missile attack against Greece by an allied country, a member of NATO. The mentality of North Korea cannot and should not enter the North Atlantic Alliance”, explained the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias from Brussels where he was on behalf of the Council of Foreign Affairs of the European Union.

It was preceded by the new delirium of Tayyip Erdoğan, who re-armed the Tayfun missiles and returned to aggressive rhetoric against Athens. In an attempt to appeal to his “tired” domestic audience and boost his leadership profile in an otherwise wintry Turkey, speaking to young people in Samsun, he again attacked Greece by threatening to hit it with Turkish missiles.

“Now we started building our rockets. This production naturally frightens the Greeks. You say Tayfun and now the Greek is afraid. He says he will hit Athens. Well, he’ll hit her of course. If you don’t sit quietly, if you try to buy things for the islands from America and from here and there, well then, a country like Turkey probably won’t just sit and watch, it will have to do something.”

Threats which the government representative countered by reminding Ankara for the umpteenth time that Greece is neither terrorized nor intimidated.

“Mr. Erdogan thinks that as many times as he repeats the absurd and the unjust, he can make it reasonable and fair. This is not going to happen. The country is neither terrorized, nor panicked, nor threatened. Our country is absolutely determined, it is always prepared, at the ready, to defend its international legitimacy, sovereignty and sovereign rights” stressed Yiannis Oikonomou.

Provocative statements from Akar as well

The baton of challenges was taken, after the Turkish president, by Hulusi Akar, who tried again to reverse the reality. “Greece is making every effort to increase the tension with absurd and illegal claims, with continuous provocative actions and aggressive rhetoric. It is never possible to allow any fait accompli,” the Turkish Defense Minister claimed.

Rhetoric and lies that Athens refuses to follow with the Greek Minister of Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos referring to our country’s strategy and the strengthening of its deterrent power, which constantly fuels Turkish irritation. “Our job is to strengthen our country. Perhaps this empowerment causes an additional irritation to the neighbors. Greece will become even stronger, the Armed Forces will become even stronger and let us be prepared for a demonstration of this irritation in any case” clarified Nikos Panagiotopoulos.

N. Dendias in Paris

In this environment and with Turkey continuing to launch threats against its ally within NATO, “jealous” of the glory of Moscow’s revisionism, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, will be in Paris today, where he will participate in the Solidarity Conference for Ukraine.

In particular, this is a high-level international Conference in support of the people of Ukraine, with the main objective of meeting the immediate needs and strengthening the resilience of Ukraine during the winter. The Conference will be held at the level of Heads of State and Government, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, as well as Presidents of International Organizations. The Conference will be co-chaired by the President of France, Macron, and, via video conference, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.​

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