Turkey does not accept the hand of friendship that Greece has always tended and leads to a steady escalation, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Real Fm radio station, while his Turkish counterpart was listing open issues with Greece. Like continental shelf and EEZ designation.
We have an obligation to defend our national interests, our national sovereignty and not allow Turkey to lead our relations to such an escalation that we can militarize any dispute, "said Mr Dendias.
"Unfortunately, we are in a climate in which Turkey is not responding to the friendly hand that our country has always held. On the contrary, it has led to a steady escalation, which cannot have a positive effect, neither for us nor for Turkey, nor of course for the wider region. It is now overflighting in Evros, which was extremely rare to say the least, and in general the whole Turkish attitude and rhetoric is not what characterizes friendly, allied and neighboring countries" said the Greek Foreign Minister.
"On the other hand, we have an obligation to defend our national interests, our national sovereignty and not allow Turkey to lead our relations to such an escalation that we can militarize any dispute. Greece will not allow this. Why? Because we always move in the context of international law, international law and European logic. So we will not follow Turkey downhill" mr Dendias added.
Asked why Greece is not shooting down a military plane that violates the country's air borders, the foreign minister said that
The militarization of disputes with Turkey will not lead to a solution, but to a deterioration.
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