«Don’t get into sham heroism by trusting those who might have your back. Don’t seek adventurism, It won’t end well for you! »
Threatening words from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu on Thursday, December 29th. But this isn’t the first time Turkey has threatened Greece, especially recently. Earlier in December Turkish President Erdogan uttered his own threats.
« Now we have started to make our own missile. Of course, this production scares the Greeks. When you say ‘Tayfun,’ the Greek gets scared and say, ‘It will hit Athens.’ Well, of course it will. » – Erdogan in reference to Turkey’s « Typhoon » missile, a short range ballistic missile that was first tested in October.
The Foreign Ministers latest threats are in regards to reports that Greece will attempt to extend its territorial waters by 12 nautical miles. While, technically speaking, Greece is well within their legal rights to do so, Turkey disagrees. They have long stated that, should Greece extend their waters, it would be seen as an act of war.
« Our position is clear, no 12 miles, we will not allow for territorial waters to be expanded by even a mile in the Aegean » – Foreign Minister Çavusoglu.
In October Greece said that within weeks they could have all the technical work done in order to have such an expansion realized.
« The Greek government conducts itself with international law and its national interest as its only determinants, » – Greek Government Spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou. « This strategy of threats and challenges pursued by Turkey leads to nowhere. »
Both Turkey and Greece are NATO members, and so the threat of war between the two is of great concern.
