Coldness and zero tolerance of Athens in the face of Erdogan’s new challenges

Of Dimitris Gatsiu

Athens sends out messages of calmness, determination and zero tolerance in the face of the Ovidian transformations of the president of Turkey, who adapts his rhetoric according to the audience he is addressing.

After his silence at the NATO Summit, during which he did not repeat before the leaders his revisionist rhetoric, Mr. Erdogan is again walking in the footsteps of the well-known offensive statements.

And in an unprecedented move, he did not hesitate to carry out a brutal intervention in the internal affairs of our country, provoking a resounding response from the Greek capital.

“We will not get carried away, but neither will we leave any challenge unanswered”, is the message emitted by Athens, which continues to show its neighbor’s leadership the way to respect International Law and the rules of good neighborliness, strengthening alliances and adding new pieces to the puzzle of informing partners and allies.

The Prime Minister will be in Strasbourg tomorrow to address the European Parliament, while today the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, will attend the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which will be held in Lugano, Switzerland, representing Mr. Mitsotakis.

“From the rhetorical sharpness of the previous interval, he has now changed course. Now he has attempted a crude intervention in the internal affairs of our country. It is quite natural that Mr. Erdogan is not comfortable with a government that is achieving successes for the Motherland…

It is only natural that Mr. Erdogan should be annoyed with a prime minister who has raised the country’s international representation to a different standard. With a Prime Minister who was applauded by the entire Congress, who was welcomed by the American President at the White House.

With a prime minister who signs major international agreements and alliances with France and deepens the agreement with the United States of America,” government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said (Sky).

Government officials, in the wake of the new challenges of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speak of the continuation of a tactic, which is oriented towards the domestic audience.

Let’s not forget, after all, the major problems facing Turkey’s economy, in the midst of galloping inflation and the messages that its neighbor’s president is headed for his first electoral defeat.

“In this escalation we have chosen to respond wisely, calmly, but also with determination in terms of defending our rights. With full respect for International Law and especially International Law of the Sea. We are not slipping into a sterile confrontation , we don’t waste ourselves on sensationalism either,” noted (First Topic) Mr. Dendias.

“Turkey’s claims are legally completely non-existent and essentially constitute one more piece in the general revisionist narrative presented by the neighboring country.

On the contrary, Greece’s positions are based on International Law, international treaties, the Charter of the United Nations, the fundamental right to protect the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of states,” he added.

Athens, as is to be expected, if Ankara chooses to continue… a cycle of delinquency, it will raise the specific issue that is negatively ionizing the environment in the Southeast Mediterranean in all fora.

The door of dialogue from our country’s side remains open, with international law and international legality as fixed points of reference. The pursuit of dialogue, however, does not mean that Greece will turn a blind eye to Turkish provocation and revisionism.

Calm waters in the Aegean remain a big issue. And on this front, government officials insist that the neighbor’s attacks will remain at the level of rhetoric and will not be transferred to the field.

“There is currently no mobility. In 2020 we had it. Now, we have nothing. We see no movement”, they estimate.