Çavuşoğlu urges Greek defense minister to pull himself together amid tensions over Kardak
As relations between Turkey and Greece have recently been strained due to the Greek Supreme Court's refusal to extradite eight Gülenist pro-coup soldiers which was then followed by Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos flying over the Aegean's Kardak islets, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu criticized the Greek minister yesterday, saying he should "pull himself together."Commenting on the rising tensions between Turkey and Greece, experts say that despite the recent tensions, strains will eventually subside.
Speaking to the Turkish Hürriyet daily, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said: "Greece has been doing things to provoke tensions for a long time. We [Turkey] are behaving reasonably so there that are no tensions with our neighbors." Çavuşoğlu further stressed in his remarks that there could be "no going back" if tensions are allowed to escalate. Underlining that Turkey does not mention "most of the provocations by Greece," the Turkish foreign minister called upon the Greek minister to "pull himself together"as he also noted that "matters in the dispute must be resolved through discussions between the countries. One must have common sense. If the situation escalates, God forbid, there will be no going back in case there is an unwanted accident. We have a tremendous sense of responsibility and the Greek defense minister must also act likewise."
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım echoed Çavuşoğlu's remarks, informing the Ankara Chiefs of Bureau recently that he has sent a letter to his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras urging that the Supreme Court decision not to extradite Gülenist pro-coup soldiers be reassessed in the framework of the rule of law.
"We must discuss common future, common interests rather than problems. Turkey will have a response to any hostile approach regardless of whoever it is... Failure to extradite putschists is an absolute disappointment to us [Turkey]," he added.
Relations between Turkey and Greece have recently been strained since the top Greek court denied Turkish extradition requests for eight pro-coup soldiers who fled to Greece after the July 15 coup attempt which killed 248 people and injured over 2,200 others and targeted the Turkish Parliament. Following the refusal to extradite Gülenists, Greek Defense Minister Kammenos flew over the Aegean's Kardak islets on Wednesday, throwing wreaths to commemorate soldiers who were killed in the military muscle show during the tensions over islets 21 years ago. The Greek defense minister's visit to Kardak was viewed as provocative as it happened immediately after Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, accompanied by army, navy and air force commanders, paid a surprise visit to the area and cruised near the Kardak islets on Jan. 29. He later visited Aksaz Navy Base Command located near Turkey's Aegean resort town of Marmaris. Commenting on the matter, Stelyo Berberakis, an Athens-based journalist, told Daily Sabah that Greece is in no position to further escalate tensions but that "Due to their Balkan mentality, they may escalate it due to motivations of pride."
"Greece already has its own problems as the course of its economy is bad and has the upcoming Eurogroup meeting on Feb. 20 as the first matter on its agenda. Thus, tensions with Turkey would not help them in anyway," Berberakis added, continuing on by noting that the Greek defense minister comes from a conservative party and is known for his nationalist rhetoric. Regardless, the journalist, well-versed in Greek-Turkish relations, stressed that: "Tensions between the two countries will escalate to a point before eventually deescalating. ...Neither Turkey nor Greece desires to have dangerous tensions; thus, I believe that relations will recover."
Similarly to Berberakis, Dr. Bora Bayraktar of the International Relations Department at Istanbul Kültür University also told Daily Sabah that, "When considering the actions taken by Greece in the scope of real politics, these can only be described as domestic policies designed with Greek nationalists in mind; especially in the context of the economic crisis it currently faces." Providing information on the approach of the Greek media to tensions between the two countries, Bayraktar said, "The Greek media defines the actions [refusal to extradite soldiers and the Kardak islets controversy] as a bad move on the Greek government's part and Greece is not in any position to ‘play with fire,' defining the move as an indication of the government's faulty decision making mechanisms." While noting that he does not expect a "hot conflict" between Turkey and Greece, Bayraktar said tensions will "de-escalate eventually as Turkey has more leverage over Greece because of the refugee deal and the Cyprus matter."
Furthermore, İlhan Tahsin, columnist at Birlik daily touched upon Greece's "unfriendly and insincere" stance towards Turkey, saying, "One of the main reasons for this is due to Greece's desire to take control of the Aegean Sea and the Western Thrace." Tahsin further said he expects tensions to continue between the two states, saying that: "Unrest regarding the issue of the Aegean will be discussed for [years to come] and it will continue to escalate gradually. Furthermore, the reason for the escalation is due to a Greek lack of desire to offer a fair solution on the matter due to Greece's misdirected fear of losing Greek territory."
Speaking to the Turkish Hürriyet daily, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said: "Greece has been doing things to provoke tensions for a long time. We [Turkey] are behaving reasonably so there that are no tensions with our neighbors." Çavuşoğlu further stressed in his remarks that there could be "no going back" if tensions are allowed to escalate. Underlining that Turkey does not mention "most of the provocations by Greece," the Turkish foreign minister called upon the Greek minister to "pull himself together"as he also noted that "matters in the dispute must be resolved through discussions between the countries. One must have common sense. If the situation escalates, God forbid, there will be no going back in case there is an unwanted accident. We have a tremendous sense of responsibility and the Greek defense minister must also act likewise."
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım echoed Çavuşoğlu's remarks, informing the Ankara Chiefs of Bureau recently that he has sent a letter to his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras urging that the Supreme Court decision not to extradite Gülenist pro-coup soldiers be reassessed in the framework of the rule of law.
"We must discuss common future, common interests rather than problems. Turkey will have a response to any hostile approach regardless of whoever it is... Failure to extradite putschists is an absolute disappointment to us [Turkey]," he added.
Relations between Turkey and Greece have recently been strained since the top Greek court denied Turkish extradition requests for eight pro-coup soldiers who fled to Greece after the July 15 coup attempt which killed 248 people and injured over 2,200 others and targeted the Turkish Parliament. Following the refusal to extradite Gülenists, Greek Defense Minister Kammenos flew over the Aegean's Kardak islets on Wednesday, throwing wreaths to commemorate soldiers who were killed in the military muscle show during the tensions over islets 21 years ago. The Greek defense minister's visit to Kardak was viewed as provocative as it happened immediately after Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, accompanied by army, navy and air force commanders, paid a surprise visit to the area and cruised near the Kardak islets on Jan. 29. He later visited Aksaz Navy Base Command located near Turkey's Aegean resort town of Marmaris. Commenting on the matter, Stelyo Berberakis, an Athens-based journalist, told Daily Sabah that Greece is in no position to further escalate tensions but that "Due to their Balkan mentality, they may escalate it due to motivations of pride."
"Greece already has its own problems as the course of its economy is bad and has the upcoming Eurogroup meeting on Feb. 20 as the first matter on its agenda. Thus, tensions with Turkey would not help them in anyway," Berberakis added, continuing on by noting that the Greek defense minister comes from a conservative party and is known for his nationalist rhetoric. Regardless, the journalist, well-versed in Greek-Turkish relations, stressed that: "Tensions between the two countries will escalate to a point before eventually deescalating. ...Neither Turkey nor Greece desires to have dangerous tensions; thus, I believe that relations will recover."
Similarly to Berberakis, Dr. Bora Bayraktar of the International Relations Department at Istanbul Kültür University also told Daily Sabah that, "When considering the actions taken by Greece in the scope of real politics, these can only be described as domestic policies designed with Greek nationalists in mind; especially in the context of the economic crisis it currently faces." Providing information on the approach of the Greek media to tensions between the two countries, Bayraktar said, "The Greek media defines the actions [refusal to extradite soldiers and the Kardak islets controversy] as a bad move on the Greek government's part and Greece is not in any position to ‘play with fire,' defining the move as an indication of the government's faulty decision making mechanisms." While noting that he does not expect a "hot conflict" between Turkey and Greece, Bayraktar said tensions will "de-escalate eventually as Turkey has more leverage over Greece because of the refugee deal and the Cyprus matter."
Furthermore, İlhan Tahsin, columnist at Birlik daily touched upon Greece's "unfriendly and insincere" stance towards Turkey, saying, "One of the main reasons for this is due to Greece's desire to take control of the Aegean Sea and the Western Thrace." Tahsin further said he expects tensions to continue between the two states, saying that: "Unrest regarding the issue of the Aegean will be discussed for [years to come] and it will continue to escalate gradually. Furthermore, the reason for the escalation is due to a Greek lack of desire to offer a fair solution on the matter due to Greece's misdirected fear of losing Greek territory."