Greece warns Turkey: We are not Syria or Iraq!
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kosias responded to recent statements by the Turkish leadership on the disputed island of Kardak by saying that his country was "not Syria or Iraq."
In a statement to the Greek Radio 7/24, Kosias said the Turkish authorities claimed that they had illegally owned the Kurdish island of Kardak, known in Greece as Emia, since 1996.
Kosias said that Turkey should not exceed its borders in the Aegean Sea under international law, stressing that Greece is a more organized country than Syria and Iraq, which Turkey used the opportunity to enter their territory.
Commenting on the landing of the Greek flag on the rocky island, Kosias said that the institutions of the state, including his ministry, must, above all, and if a party in a given case has to think about what will follow the initiative, That it is possible to raise the flag, but you have to think about how and when we will take this step.
Kosias stressed that foreign policy is not managed as such, pointing out that it is not right to practice these things without coordination with the countries concerned and in a way that destroys its policy.
In response to a question about the statements of the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitris Kushumbus, on the possibility of fierce confrontations between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea, Kosias explained that the task of diplomacy to prevent military confrontations, useful that their cause is not confrontations that may occur at some point, Without incident.
Turkish Prime Minister Ben Ali Yildirim accused Greece of "provocative" actions after the Greek flag was hoisted on the disputed Kurdish island of Kardak.
Yildirim stressed that the Turkish coastguard is aware that his country expects everyone not to believe that it will relinquish its sovereign rights, stressing that Turkey is "determined to respond appropriately to events that target its sovereignty under any circumstances."
Relations between Greece and Turkey have been strained over the past weeks because of border disputes between the two countries in the Aegean Sea, oil and gas exploration rights offshore the Greek island of Cyprus and Turkish authorities arresting two Greek soldiers for espionage. Turkish soldiers fled after the failed coup attempt in mid-2016.
Source: Time
Rifat Suleiman
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