Turkey’s Def. Min.: Greece, don’t rely on the words of others

Ankara continues its provocations, this time through the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, who called on Greece not to “put on airs by relying on third countries”.

In today’s statements, Akar reiterated that Ankara is open to dialogue with Athens but this does not constitute weakness, while he accused our country of being the one that increases the tension in Greek-Turkish relations.

“We always submit our proposals for dialogue with Greece and we expect Greece to abandon its actions and rhetoric that increase tension,” he said, repeating that Turkey will not accept it as a fait accompli. At the same time, he called on the Greek government to “listen to those politicians who warn” about the consequences.

“Don’t get carried away by the words of others”

“Despite all the mistakes that were made, we believe that they will be resolved with patience and peaceful methods” said Akar, to add, addressing Greece: “Make up your mind, don’t take up airs from the words of others.”

And he continued: “Our call for dialogue is not weakness on our part. We say we will claim our rights. Don’t lift your feet off the ground because of some statements. We will not allow faits accomplis. Collect your brains. Some politicians use the friction between us. There are futile attempts at armaments. There are some politicians in Greece who see all this and warn. We tell the Greeks to listen to them. Let’s share the wealth of the Aegean fairly. Turkey is not a threat, Turkey is a strong ally.”

At the same time, regarding the Cyprus issue, he made it clear that Ankara remains unmoved on the two-state solution. “The Turkish Cypriots are our brothers. Cyprus is our national cause. So there is no question of making concessions there,” Akar said.

Barrage of provocations

It is recalled that Erdogan’s “right-hand man”, the representative of the Turkish presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, went so far as to threaten Athens with “consequences” if it insists on “arming the islands”.

“From the beginning, we were in favor of dialogue. It was the Greek side that ended the talks in 2016. It was the Greek side that led to the failure of the negotiations,” Kalin said, adding that Greece “has no chance of gaining power on its own. It can only do this by relying on lobbying in either the EU or the US.”

“We are NATO allies, we share the same geography. We face similar challenges. We don’t need to fight,” Kalin pointedly added, “The equipping of the islands is a matter recorded in the Lausanne Agreement and the Paris Agreement. Every such action has consequences. You cannot corner Turkey with rhetoric that increases tension.”