Athens responds to Erdogan’s threats – The signals emitted by K. Mitsotakis and the stations of internationalization of challenges

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

Through a double intervention in a European background and at a time when the neighbor’s leadership is trying day by day to exceed the verbal challenges, the Prime Minister sent new and, at the same time, resounding messages to the President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Brussels (extraordinary summit of the “27” of the European Union) and Rotterdam (congress of the European People’s Party), Mr. Mitsotakis made it clear that Athens will constantly internationalize the waves of Turkish delinquency.

The next big milestones, after all, are coming in June. The first is related to the regular European Council and the second to the NATO Summit in Madrid, with the Greek capital at the forefront of its ongoing interventions with partners and allies that do not mean equal distances from the outbursts of Ankara.

“We will never be the ones to resort to sharpening, insults, personal characterizations. It is not something that suits me. It does not suit the country, it does not suit the Foreign Ministry.

We have the confidence that comes from believing that we are right. It stems from the strong allies we have and it stems, of course, and from our strong and increasingly reinforced deterrent ability to defend our sovereignty and our sovereign rights.

I have nothing else to add to this and I am not going to get involved in any way, it would be very easy for me, I will not do it, in a game, in a personal character ping pong with the Turkish president. “I will not follow him in this path, which he has chosen”, the prime minister stressed, during the press conference he gave, at the end of the work of the extraordinary Summit.

A few hours later, no, he came back. This time, from the congress of the European People’s Party. “The last thing we need today is another source of instability on NATO’s southeast. I’m sure some in Russia would be very happy if that happened. But we will make sure we do not allow that.

We will also send a clear message that we are not going to compromise when it comes to our sovereignty and sovereign rights. That is why, even before the Ukrainian crisis, we spent more resources to strengthen our armed forces, to ensure that we have a credible deterrent capability.

We are a force for peace. “We are a defensive force, but we want to send a very clear message that any sense of threat to our sovereignty will be punished in a very severe way,” the prime minister said.

The estimates of Athens

In the aftermath of the messages sent to the leadership of the neighbor Mr. Mitsotakis, the Greek capital estimates that the leadership of the neighboring country will not attempt another hot summer in the field, corresponding to that of 2020, but will continue the tactics of aggressive rhetoric .

A rhetoric, however, which, as pointed out, is deconstructed point by point by our country on the basis of international law. As noted, of course, even in the scenario of a new attempt to instrumentalize immigration by Ankara, Athens is much more prepared.

The Greek capital also estimates that the provocations of President Erdogan and senior Turkish officials are not helping either on the domestic front, as Ankara escalates its rhetoric as it sees the Turkish pound plummet in a period of intense pressure. for the neighbor’s economy.

As for the reasons that lead the Turkish president to this new era of lionism, Athens attributes them to the success of Mr. Mitsotakis’s trip to the United States of America, but also to what the Prime Minister said in Congress.

When, without even naming Turkey, it put the whole spectrum of its provocations, but also the dangers for the unity of NATO, in a particularly critical momentum for the Alliance.