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Greece warns Turkey to stop 'aggressive posturing'

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Oct 27, 2021, 12:07 AM IST
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File photo of Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

Tensions between Greece and Turkey rose last year when Turkey sent gas exploration ship with a small navy flotilla into waters Greece claims its own. Greek PM's warning to Turkey came during his visit to Saudi Arabia

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday warned Turkey to stop 'aggressive posturing' over maritime dispute and engage in talks. His statement came during a visit to Saudi Arabia made with an aim of strebngthening ties with Gulf countries.

The PM warned that Greece had "drawn our lines very, very clearly" after signing defence deals with the United States and France earlier this month.

"We are secure. I don't think there is a geopolitical threat," Mitsotakis told the elite annual meeting dubbed 'Davos in the Desert', with Prince Mohammed in the audience.

"And I think at the end of the day Turkey will also realise that this aggressive posturing in the eastern Mediterranean is not going to lead anywhere."

Tensions between Greece and Turkey soared last year when Turkey sent gas exploration ship and small navy flotilla to hunt for resources in waters Greece considers its own under treaties.

In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan endorsed a formal partition of Cyprus, which Ankara invaded in 1974 in response to a coup engineered by Greece's then military junta.

Greece also blames Turkey for not taking sufficient action to curb smugglers who send out migrants in unsafe boats and dinghies from its shores.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 2,500 people have crossed the Aegean from neighbouring Turkey this year, compared to over 9,700 in 2020.

"I think we've set up our alliances, we've drawn our lines very, very clearly," Mitsotakis said.

"And I do hope that at some point, Turkey will constructively engage with us to resolve the one main outstanding issue we have which is the delineation of maritime shores."

He added: "We're always open for dialogue, but we will not be intimidated and we will not accept our sovereign rights to be compromised."

(With inputs from agencies)