Greece’s foreign minister has said his country is open to talks with Turkey, but only if Ankara stops its provocations.
Nikos Dendias told Proto Thema newspaper: “It is up to Turkey whether or not it will come to such a dialogue, but the basic ingredient must be de-escalation.
The two historical foes have a long list of grievances, including maritime borders, flight rights, the delimitation of their continental shelves and the divided island of Cyprus.
But in recent months, their relationship has become more strained.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reportedly used a visit to the United States in May to lobby against Ankara’s efforts to buy fighter jets from Washington, saying Turkey was violating Greek airspace.
Turkey has accused Greece of arming Aegean islands that are supposed to be demilitarized, under international law, and it has also been alarmed by Greece’s growing defense cooperation with the United States and France.
In September, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece that “we could come suddenly one night”, adding: “We will not fail to defend the rights and interests of our country against Greece using all means at our disposal. disposal, when necessary”.
The European Commission said last month that Turkish threats were “unacceptable”, calling on Ankara to “work seriously to de-escalate tensions”.
“Aggressive revisionist program”
Also in September, Mr Mitsotakis told the UN General Assembly that Turkey was “building a full narrative of false claims in the Aegean” and pursuing an “ever more aggressive revisionist agenda”.
He added: “What is particularly alarming is the growing intensity of threats.”
On Sunday, Mr Dendias said Turkey had sharply increased its overflights and violations of Greek airspace and that its behavior served a “revisionist narrative”.
“The person responsible for a de-escalation is the one who provokes the escalation – that is, Turkey,” he added.
Mr Dendias said Turkish claims that Greece cannot be an equal participant diplomatically, politically and militarily were “an insulting approach”.
