Athens, Thursday, 22 September 2022
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, made unproven accusations against Greece at the UN General Assembly in New York, signalling a new escalation on Ankara's part. In response, Athens is getting ready to refute the accusations with the truth.
Nikos Dendias, the foreign minister of Greece, responded right afterwards. Later on Tuesday, he criticised Erdogan and Ankara's stance on migration, which Erdogan had tried to weaponize by alleging that Greece was drowning people.
Greece is not scared and is not tarnished, according to government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou, by the "gibberish and the unfounded statements uttered from the podium of the UN General Assembly." Erdogan's address, according to him, was an unprecedented attempt to convey false information and obscene propaganda while entirely twisting reality with unsupported assertions in opposition to what is actually occurring.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is anticipated to fully outline Greece's positions and highlight the destructive character of Erdogan's words in his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Beyond the diplomatic and communication aspects, Athens is said to be dubious about the motivation behind Erdogan's words. There is a perception in Athens that Erdogan's statements may not be restricted to the realm of creating impressions alone or the internal political situation in Turkey given that tension is steadily rising both in the Aegean with Turkish overflights and in the East Mediterranean with the potential expansion of Ankara's exploratory activities.
Erdogan's agitated response to a journalist's query regarding the likelihood of a face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden was one indicator of this. “Why? Erdogan declared, "If he's Biden, I'm Erdogan.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli prime minister and foreign minister, who had earlier in the day spoken with Erdogan, was another person Mitsotakis spoke with. According to reports, Mitsotakis informed his Israeli counterpart "on the excessive hostile attitude of the Turkish political leadership and its outrageous claims that challenge Greek sovereignty," highlighting how these statements jeopardise stability and security in the East Med.
(Source: Kathimerini.gr // Edited by: The Decision Maker – International Relations editors)