Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had a heated exchange on Thursday during a dinner for the leaders attending the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Prague.
The pan-European meeting at the capital of the Czech Republic brings together leaders from 44 nations of the continent, including the 27 member states of the European Union.
During his speech at the Thursday dinner, President Erdogan attacked Greece, maintaining that Athens is raising tension in the region with provocative actions, Ekathimerini reported.
Taking to the floor immediately after him, Prime Minister Mitsotakis directly addressed his Turkish counterpart, stating that Turkey must stop questioning the sovereignty of Greece’s Aegean islands.
He also called on the Turkish President to refrain from further provocations, calling for communication and dialogue without extreme rhetoric, “as responsible leaders do.”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Erdogan said Greece, alongside other nations at the Prague Summit, were waiting for Turkey to restart the dialogue with Greece.
“Their entire policy is based on lies, they are not honest. We have nothing to discuss with Greece,” he said.
Erdogan said Athens understood Ankara’s message when he said “we may suddenly arrive one night” last month- a comment that Greek and other Western officials have condemned as a threat to a neighbouring state.
In a tweet posted this morning, he wrote: “We see that some member countries of the Union prefer to escalate tensions instead of cooperation and good neighbourliness with Turkey.”
“Turkey has no eyes on the territory and sovereignty of any country. We are struggling to protect the interests of our country and the Turkish Cypriots.”
READ MORE: UK’s Foreign Office says the sovereignty of Aegean islands is not in question
