By Penelope Galliou

“The fact that we are discussing does not mean that we are giving up on our sovereign rights”, Athens declares to Ankara, which, with the black anniversary of the fiftieth anniversary of Attila’s invasion of Cyprus, “remembered” once again the tactics of the challenges on a verbal level but also on the field, but without the intensity of the past.

Before the mini-crisis is well de-escalated in the strait between Kasos and Karpathos, as the Italian research vessel completed its mission, the Turkish President returned to his provocative rhetoric, sticking to the line of provocations and in his speech to the officials of the ruling party, he referred to an alleged Turkish minority in Thrace. “I would like to emphasize again that we will stand by our brothers in “western Thrace” with all our means. We also benefit from the ongoing dialogue with Greece to protect the rights and justice of the “Turkish minority” in “Western Thrace,” Tayyip Erdogan said.

In other words, he repeated once again, “absurd and illogical positions, which move outside the limits of International Law and are incompatible with international agreements,” commented a government source. While diplomatic sources put a brake on the Turkish absurdity, stressing that “The members of the Muslim minority in Thrace enjoy equality and equality. Issues related to the rule of law and the protection of the human rights of Greek citizens are not and could not be discussed.”

The new flare-up of Turkish rhetoric and the scenes of tension that Ankara is trying to revive are attributed by Athens to a series of factors that the Turkish leadership seeks to bring back to the fore, without any legal basis, while attempting to strengthen the profile of the “powerful factor” in surrounding area.

Both based on his presence and his claims Tayyip Erdogan in the occupied territories during the fiesta it organized there, as well as with the tension it set up in Kasos with the Turkish ships, but also with yesterday’s new rhetorical provocations, Turkey is estimated to be trying to take advantage of the political “confusion” prevailing in the US . Due to the American pre-election period and the upheavals that took place in the presidential bid, Ankara considers that for the time being “the field is free” to proceed with lionization for which no one will react easily and immediately, such as its movements in the Kasos Straits Karpathos, and the attempt to bring back to the fore the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum. Efforts, however, that fall in vain, receiving the firm and clear answer of Greece that “we do not negotiate and do not discuss sovereign rights”.

Government sources also clarified that the fact that Greece insists and keeps the communication channels open between the two sides of the Aegean does not mean any retreat. Besides, it is estimated that if there were no channels of communication for a rapprochement between the two sides, yesterday’s de-escalation and the calmness that characterized Greek-Turkish relations for a long time, until recently, would hardly have come about and were nowhere near the tense atmosphere that prevailed in previous years.

The value of open communication channels was also confirmed by the outcome of the mini-crisis off Kasos, which required a strong diplomatic background and high-level contacts between Athens and Ankara to avoid escalation.