Just a day after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made assurances that Greece “will not go to war with Turkey,” his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified his bellicose rhetoric during a political rally in Istanbul.
Erdogan warned Mitsotakis to “behave smartly or [he] will see the march of crazy Turks.” Despite both nations nominally being allies within NATO, Erdogan’s rhetoric fits an existing pattern of worsening relations between Greece and Turkey.
Over the past few months, the two countries have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, including maritime territorial boundaries in the Aegean, occupied Cyprus, and military acquisitions.
Erdogan’s comments this Friday came just a day after Mitsotakis expressed his concerns about fraying Greco-Turkish relations at the World Economic Forum summit at Davos on Thursday.
“We will not go to war with Turkey,” Mitsotakis told CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria at an event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We should be able to sit down with Turkey as reasonable adults and discuss the issue of the continental shelf and sea zones in the Aegean,” the Greek Prime Minister added. “We did it successfully with Italy and Egypt, [and] with Albania.”
“Mitsotakis’ remarks aren’t enough to determine the fate of the region,” the Turkish President said during a political rally in Istanbul.
The Turkish President then accused Greece of inflaming tensions in the Aegean. “We can see Greek authorities are failing to implement conditions of Lausanne with their approach,” he commented.