Chairman Menendez Delivers Floor Speech Condemning Erdogan’s Threat to Attack Athens with Ballistic Missiles – US Foreign Relations Commitee

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“I come to the Floor today to condemn the recent actions of the Turkish President which are not only disturbing—they are totally unacceptable.” WASHINGTON – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today delivered remarks on the Senate Floor following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threatened missile strike on Athens, Greece. Menendez called on the United …

Chairman Menendez Delivers Floor Speech Condemning Erdogan’s Threat to Attack Athens with Ballistic Missiles – US Foreign Relations Commitee Read More »

Erdogan says no meeting until Greek PM “pulls himself together” | Reuters

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Historic rivals, Turkey and Greece have been at odds over issues ranging from overflights and the status of Aegean islands, maritime boundaries and hydrocarbon resources in the Mediterranean, and ethnically-split Cyprus.

Tensions flared again recently over air space and the status of demilitarised islands in the Aegean. Erdogan has said Mitsotakis “no longer exists for him” after the Greek premier lobbied for the United States not to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets during a speech at the U.S. Congress.

Turkish aspirations, Greek advantages | eKathimerini.com

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Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a somewhat similar situation. If he makes the mistake – as his political rivals are encouraging him to do – of transferring his hostile instincts into the field of military operations in Evros and the Aegean, he will spell his own destruction just as Putin did. The difference is that no one will step in to help him avert a personal humiliation and, obviously, the demise of his political career.

Greece already enjoys a clear advantage in the following areas:

Head of Greek Pomaks’ Association rips into Erdogan’s revisionist expansionism – To Vima Online

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You forget, of course, that these islands have been Greek for thousands of years, many centuries before your ancestors for the first time in their history laid their eyes on the… blue colour of the Aegean.
The islands of Imvros and Tenedos were also Greek. Why do you not implement, correspondingly, the provisions of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne?
[Article 14 stipulates: “The islands of Imbros and Tenedos, remaining under Turkish sovereignty, shall enjoy a special administrative organisation composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the native non-Moslem population in so far as concerns local administration and the protection of persons and property. The maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force recruited from amongst the local population by the local administration above provided for and placed under its orders. The agreements which have been, or may be, concluded between Greece and Turkey relating to the exchange of the Greek and Turkish populations will not be applied to the inhabitants of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos.”]

‘Libya troops motion’ to grant Erdoğan unlimited authority to send troops to another country – Nordic Monitor

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In the concluding paragraph, the Turkish president requests the approval of parliament to send Turkish troops to foreign countries for operations and interventions in order to effectively protect Turkey’s interests and to help pursue a dynamic policy so as to to avoid facing a situation that can’t be remedied, adding that the scope of operations, number of troops and time deployed will be determined by him.

The use of the word “countries” instead of “Libya” as the country to which troops will be sent allows Erdoğan to send troops to any destination he deems necessary, on the grounds of protecting Turkey’s interests.

Turkish provocations upscaled with “fake news” – Οικονομικός Ταχυδρόμος – ot.gr

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Turkey, in addition to provocative actions and inflammatory statements, is also spreading fake news, accusing Greek authorities of opening fire on migrants trying to cross the border in Evros, resulting in the death of an Afghan man.

The DHA news agency reports that the incident took place in the village of Alibey on the border with Edirne. However, Greek police categorically denied the claim, noting that there was no report of a similar incident at the border, while the Minister of Civil Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, spoke of fake news and accused Turkey of having a sordid past in instrumentalizing illegal immigrants.

Erdogan escalates Rhetoric against Greece and Mobilizes Imams in his Re-Election Bid – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency

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Erdogan in the past few weeks has kept lashing out at Greece, trying to “put it in its place“, threatening it with severe consequences. He does this because, on the one hand, he sees Athens as a soft and easy target, and, on the other, he increases tensions with NATO ally Greece as a leverage on the United States regarding his plans to invade northern Syria and to get recognition of his demands on the energy resources of Eastern Mediterranean.

The Turkish President and his ultra-nationalist ally Bahceli have seen their popularity falling in opinion polls and fear a voter backlash, as Turkey‘s inflation keeps soaring at 73 percent, while energy and food prices are reaching unprecedented heights, unemployment keeps rising and the value of the Turkish Lira is declining rapidly.