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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will continue to defend its rights in the eastern Mediterranean and “will not give in to threats and blackmail”, while voices in Greece were raised to demand to confront “Turkish ambitions”.
Erdogan’s remarks came during a short speech during his visit to the grave of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara.
Erdogan said: “The decisive successes we have achieved in various fields, whether in the field of energy or in the fight against terrorism, from Syria to Libya and from the Black Sea to the eastern Mediterranean, are clear indications of the will of our country to protect their rights and interests. ”
He added that “Turkey, especially the eastern Mediterranean, will not give in to the language of threats, dictations and blackmail, and will continue to defend its rights in accordance with international laws and bilateral agreements.”
“Do the French people know the price they will pay for these greedy and incompetent officials?” Erdogan asked while handing out certificates to officers in Ankara. He said: “When it comes to fighting, we will not hesitate to present martyrs … The question is this: are those who attack us in the Mediterranean and (the Middle East) prepared for the same sacrifices?”
Furthermore, Turkish Vice President Fuat Aktay warned on the same day against any expansion of Greek territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles.
The publication of images in the media of the arrival of Greek soldiers on the island of Kastelorizo in recent days enraged Ankara. Greece insists that the right to exploit the natural resources around this island belongs to it, which Turkey rejects.
“This kind of provocative move will not benefit Greece,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement. He stressed that “Greece will be the loser if it continues to increase tensions in the region.” In his role, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Turkish armed forces are determined and capable of protecting the rights and interests of national and international countries at all costs. ” He added that “ the Turkish armed forces, as they did in the past, are determined and can today protect our homeland, our people and our national and moral values. He is determined and capable of protecting our international rights and interests, whatever the cost of doing so. ”
“Victory Day” and “Armed Forces Day” are considered national holidays in the Turkish Republic and the Republic of Northern Cyprus. On this occasion, the two countries commemorate the victories achieved by the Turkish army led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk against the Allied forces and the Greek armies on August 30, 1922.
Greek position
In Greece, voices are being raised in the ruling party, calling for confronting “Turkish ambitions” in Greece’s rights in the eastern Mediterranean, and Athens accused Ankara of “using violence against its neighbors for exercising its role in defending your legal rights “. Greek Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said Turkey was using war threats to continue its policies during the 19th century. The Greek minister described Turkey’s moves and statements to try to restore historical influence, saying that “paranoia on the other side of the Aegean Sea represents a weak basis for decision-making.”
Greece’s Foreign Ministry said in a previous statement that “the unprecedented possibility of Turkey threatening neighboring countries with resorting to force when using its rights is incompatible with contemporary political civilization.”
European positions
On the other hand, the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement rejected the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he said that his country had drawn red lines against Turkish activities in the eastern Mediterranean, and the Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Ankara will face with a firm position to those who believe that they draw red lines against their just causes. He added that Turkey is capable of dissuading those who try by force to harm its interests, and that conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean will not be resolved at the instigation of countries outside the region. Macron said on Friday that he wanted a “constructive dialogue” with Turkey, but defended the “policy of the red line” when it came to “sovereignty in the Mediterranean.” “We did not deploy a large fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, but we simply said that we regard the deployments that (Turkey) have carried out as a provocation,” he said. He added: “What France has done was important, and it is the red line policy that it has always followed.” The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, hinted that measures could be taken against Ankara, if it does not move forward to resolve the dispute over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
He said the measures could include people, ships or the use of European ports, adding that the European Union would focus on everything related to “activities that we consider illegal.”
At the conclusion of the meeting of the European Union’s foreign ministers in Berlin, Borrell called on Ankara to refrain from adopting unilateral measures, hinting that economic sanctions could be imposed on it. Sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made a phone call with Borel, where they discussed the latest developments in the eastern Mediterranean.
Exercises and exercises
On Saturday, Turkey started new military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean that are supposed to last two weeks, indicating that the tension between Ankara and Athens regarding the sharing of gas resources in this region may last a long time. The Turkish Navy indicated in a previously published naval statement “Naftex” that it would carry out “shooting exercises” from August 29 to September 11, in an area off the town of Anamur, in southern Turkey, north of the island of Cyprus. Last Thursday, Ankara announced that shooting exercises would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in an area east of this site. These military maneuvers take place in the context of tensions looming over the eastern Mediterranean, where the discovery of large gas reserves in recent years has reactivated a long-standing regional conflict between Turkey, on the one hand, and Greece and Cyprus. , for the other.
The conflict between Turkey and Greece, two NATO members, erupted after the two sides concluded two conflicting agreements regarding their maritime borders with Libya and Egypt.
As an indication of the sensitivity and volatility of the situation, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Friday that Turkish fighter jets had intercepted 6 Greek jets the day before as they approached an area where a Turkish ship was conducting a seismic survey, which that forced him to return. Amid the continued escalation, there is fear of a war in the eastern Mediterranean, while regional and international parties call for calm and urge Athens and Ankara to engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis. On Friday, the United Nations urged Turkey and Greece to continue dialogue to resolve their differences peacefully, after Athens continued to take unilateral measures in the eastern Mediterranean region.
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