Athens ready to respond to any rhetorical provocation by Erdogan at NATO Summit

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

Armed with International Law and its strong positions, as presented and analyzed in its ongoing diplomatic marathon in recent weeks, Athens is heading for the next big milestone in June.

The NATO Summit in Madrid, the work of which will be lifted next Wednesday. The Prime Minister returned from the European Council in Brussels, having added to the Greek quiver the strong message of condemnation of the “27” leaders against the said and de facto reluctance of the President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top officials next door, the neighbor.

Challenges on the part of Turkey continue even in the…’s five-day Alliance Summit, which aims to send a signal of unity, with the entry of Sweden and Finland and… Ankara’s oriental bazaars turning to… red cloth, especially at a time of critical geopolitical developments.

Athens, for its part, is coming to Madrid ready to respond to any possible escalation on the part of Turkey, while in the last twenty-four hours every possible scenario is being examined, which will be “stripped” of the unshakable elements of Greek diplomacy.

At a time when the number one stake for the Alliance, four months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing international unrest, is its useless enlargement with the accession of Sweden and Finland, its neighbor’s leadership insists on torpedoing the environment. , with threats and neo-Ottoman delusions against Greece.

“Turkey has been patient for 100 years, since the Treaty of Lausanne, the islands must be demilitarized. Greece will either do what it ought to do or history exists at the beginning of the 20th century.

There is also the recent history of Cyprus. Greece will either demilitarize the islands or Turkey will begin to question their sovereignty. “We will challenge them wherever this goes,” Vice President Fuat Oktay told the Milliyet newspaper.

At the same time, the pro-government press of the neighbor presents Recep Tayyip Erdogan ready to raise the issue of illegal occupation of the Greek islands and their demilitarization, with Athens, as sources point out, saying that, in such a case, appropriate answers.

It has not been long since the Prime Minister gave a detailed and complete briefing to the President of the United States of America and the Chancellor of Germany on the new waves of Turkish delinquency, with Mr. Mitsotakis having already sent a signal.

“Obviously, if any issue concerns the relations between Greece and Turkey is raised, the appropriate answers will be given in the strictest way”, was his characteristic disgust, during the press conference he gave in Brussels, at the end of the work of the European Council .

The two roads

Government officials stress, in any case, that Athens will not play the game of rhetorical tension and state that the non-existent “arguments” put forward by the Turkish side have been answered by Greece in all fora, thoroughly and clearly.

“The groundless questioning of Greek sovereignty and sovereign rights must stop, even if it is aimed mainly at an internal audience. Besides, at the external audience, Ankara’s absurd claims have found no support,” is the loud message of the Greek capital.

“There are two paths for Turkey: There is the path of de-escalation, of productive dialogue with respect for international law, and there is, unfortunately, the path of escalation, which will obviously lead Turkey further away from the European family, leaving always open the possibility of taking some additional measures.

The demand at the moment is to finally stop this extreme aggressive rhetoric of questioning Greek sovereignty. A rhetoric that is completely legally non-existent “, notes, at every opportunity, the Prime Minister, who continues to invite Ankara to a bona fide dialogue, in order” as neighbors to be able to discuss and resolve, with good neighborly rules, the issues which we have “.