Greece’s Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias met with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna in Athens on Tuesday.
During Colonna’s first official visit to Athens, Dendias referred to the recent threats coming from Ankara stating that Turkey wants “to turn back the clock of history and to revive the Ottoman Empire.”
I welcomed to @GreeceMFA #France counterpart @MinColonna on her first official visit to Athens. Talks focused on 🇬🇷-🇫🇷 strategic relations, #EasternMediterranean, #WesternBalkans, #MiddleEast, Sahel, 🇷🇺 invasion of 🇺🇦, cooperation within 🇪🇺. pic.twitter.com/5d4PlDnVzH
— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) September 6, 2022
“Turkey’s statements and actions are unacceptable and reprehensible. But, we are not deterred. Nor are we afraid. We have faced far more serious threats in our history,” he said.
“We reject neo-Ottoman bullying. We will not get caught up in this delirium,” he said.
During her visit to Turkey the previous day, Colonna met with Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, telling him that there should be no escalation.
“I fully share the position you expressed to our Turkish counterpart,” Dendias said.
Colonna said France’s position remains unchanged, with the nation continuing to be “supportive” when it comes to attacks on Greek sovereignty.
The meeting comes as Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, repeated a threat that Turkey will “come down suddenly one night” on the Greek islands, during his official visit to Bosnia yesterday.
Referring to the rising tensions over Greek sovereignty of the Aegean islands, Erdogan said: “these islands have military bases and if the illegal threats continue, there will be an end to patience.”
Bugün Bosna-Hersek’te bir yeni adım attık. Artık Türkiye’den Bosna-Hersek’e, Bosna-Hersek’ten Türkiye’ye kimlik kartıyla seyahat yapılabilecek. Hayırlı, uğurlu olsun. 🇹🇷🇧🇦 pic.twitter.com/R5NwAiNsCQ
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) September 6, 2022
The Turkish President also reiterated that Greek surface-to-air missiles locked on to Turkish F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace last month. Athens has rejected these allegations.
Just last week, Turkey’s Foreign Minister wrote to all EU capitals, accusing Greece of engaging in “unlawful actions” and making “maximalist demands” in the Aegean.
In the September 1 letter, Cavusoglu stated Greece is violating “the non-military status of the Eastern Aegean Islands,” whilst questioning the width of territorial waters and national airspace that Greece is claiming.
“Greece claims to have 10 nautical miles of airspace despite the width of the territorial waters in the Aegean being 6 nautical miles,” he wrote.
“Greece is the only country in the world which has non-overlapping territorial waters and airspace borders that are not recognized by any other country.”
He went on to describe Ankara as pro-dialogue and Athens as “avoiding dialogue and escalating tensions.”
Content d’accueillir mon homologue @MinColonna.
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) September 5, 2022
⁰Les différences de vue n’empêchent pas de coopérer.
⁰Nous avons fait part des attentes des communautés turque&musulmane en 🇫🇷 & questions de visas.
⁰Nous avons discuté les développements régionaux, en particulier l’Ukraine.🇹🇷🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/zjCSDspdvO
Back in Athens, the French Foreign Minister also met with Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, where she was provided an update on Turkey’s aggressive rhetoric.
Mitsotakis said Turkey’s actions were causing tension, whilst undermining security and stability in the region.
The pair also discussed Greece’s role as a strategic energy hub for the EU’s energy security and the potential independence from Russian energy sources.
Honorée d’avoir été reçue par le premier ministre grec @kmitsotakis et ravie d’avoir pu échanger une fois encore avec mon homologue @NikosDendias, cette fois-ci à #athenes, pour évoquer la relation 🇫🇷🇬🇷 et les sujets d’actualité.#ukraine #zaporijjia #Energie #balkans #libye pic.twitter.com/aZnQA20P6L
— Catherine Colonna (@MinColonna) September 6, 2022
SOURCE: Ekathimerini
