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Erdogan Greece chooses to negotiate or is ready to face other consequences
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned Greece to enter into talks over a disputed territorial claim to the eastern Mediterranean. If you do not respond or are willing to face the consequences.
“They will understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said at the opening ceremony of a hospital in Istanbul.
Ankara is currently negotiating with Greece and Cyprus for oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. All parties have deployed the navy and air to assert their competing claims in the region.
“They will understand that Turkey has the political, economic and military power to tear apart the immoral maps and documents that it enforces,” Erdogan added, referring to the areas marked by Greece and Cyprus as its maritime economic zones.
He stressed that Turkey was “prepared for any eventuality and outcome.”
Meanwhile, as reported Israel timeThe Turkish media reported that the tanks were moving towards the Greek border. The Cumhuriyet newspaper said 40 tanks were transported from the Syrian border to Edirne in northwestern Turkey and photos of the armored vehicles loaded onto the trucks were taken.
A military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with government regulations said the deployment was a regular troop movement and was not linked to tensions with Greece.
- Caption: Warships from Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and France participated in joint military exercises Aug. 26-28, south of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in this photo provided Aug.31, 2020 by the Greek Ministry of Defense.
The president’s comments came after NATO said that military officials from Greece and Turkey had initiated technical discussions to reduce the risk of armed conflict or accidents.
The two NATO allies have been locked for weeks in a tense standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey searches the seafloor for energy reserves in an area that Greece claims is its own continental shelf.
Ankara says it has the right to look for prospects there and accuses Athens of trying to take an unfair share of the marine resources.
Simulated aerial combat between Greek and Turkish fighter pilots has multiplied in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean. A Turkish and Greek frigate collided last month, causing minor damage to the Turkish frigate, but no one was injured.
Erdogan said that Turkey has repeatedly expressed its willingness to reach a fair deal.
“Our words are sincere,” he said. “The problem is that those in front of us ignore our rights and try to put themselves above us.”
Turkey faces a host of opponents in the eastern Mediterranean. France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates have sent troops to join war games with Greece or Cyprus in recent weeks. Egypt has signed an energy exploration agreement with Athens for the Mediterranean.
The European Union, which has Greece and Cyprus as members, has also threatened possible sanctions against Ankara for its “illegal” actions.
This week, the United States announced that it would relax its 33-year arms embargo on ethnically divided Cyprus.
The island was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of unity with Greece. Turkey is the only country that recognizes the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 soldiers in northern Cyprus.
The recent crisis is the gravest in Turkish-Greek relations in decades. Neighbors have been on the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, including a fight over marine resources in the Aegean Sea.
Earlier, Ankara announced military exercises with Northern Cyprus forces from Sunday to September 10. Air, land and sea exercises are held annually.
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