The EU is concerned over the remarks of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Greece and asks the country to work out all the bilateral issues through peaceful dialogue,EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2022) The EU is concerned over the remarks of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Greece and asks the country to work out all the bilateral issues through peaceful dialogue,EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said on Monday.
On September 3, Erdogan, referring to the Greek S-300 air defense systems allegedly escorting Turkish jets over Aegean Sea, warned that Greece would pay a "heavy price" if the incidents with Turkish planes continue.
"We are aware of these hostile remarks of the political leadership of Turkey against Greece and the Greek people are source of concern, they raise really serious concern. The position of the EU has been and remains very clear, we expect Turkey to refrain from escalatory rhetoric and engage in promoting good neighborly relations not the opposite," Stano said
The spokesperson also urged both Ankara and Athens to address bilateral issues in a peaceful dialogue, which would abide by international law and customs of good neighboring.
"Greece is a member state of the EU and sovereignty and integrity of the member states of the EU has to be respected," Stano added
Turkish media reported on Sunday, citing sources in the country's defense ministry, that Greece had deployed an S-300 air defense system to escort the F-16 fighters of the Turkish air forces performing a reconnaissance mission west of Rhodes Island at the altitude of 10,000 feet on August 23. Sources in the Greek Defense Ministry categorically denied Ankara's claims that Athens deployed its S-300 system in Crete against Turkey's F-16s, describing the statements as myths aimed at creating a hostile attitude toward Greece.
The relations between Athens and Ankara have been complicated for decades. The countries were on the verge of an armed conflict three times in the summer of 2020. Greece had to mobilize its armed forces after Turkey launched a seismic survey in the Eastern Mediterranean, the area that Athens considers its exclusive economic zone.
