Türkiye on Tuesday requested an official clarification from Greece after Greek soldiers shouted chants insulting Ankara, Foreign Ministry sources said.
Marine troops participating in March 25 Greek Independence Day parades, marched chanting gross insults against Türkiye.
Describing the incident as "impertinent," the sources said the incident was deemed an unacceptable attempt to undermine Turkish-Greek relations.
Greek media reported that the Greek Defense Ministry responded promptly, with the Naval Forces Command launching a disciplinary investigation into the incident, in which some members of the Greek Armed Forces insulted Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots, according to widely circulated footage.
Greece's main opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), also denounced the slogans as being unacceptable and called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Beside insults against Ankara, the troops shouted "Cyprus is Greek," while some circles of the public were heard to respond with "Bravo."
The incident comes as ties have entered a time of diplomacy and dialogue. After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Türkiye and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations, which moved into a new chapter with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in 2023.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, rejects the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, arguing their excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots in the region.
Most recently, Greece also added another year to a visa scheme for Turkish nationals who want to visit 12 Aegean islands for up to a week, continuing a program that represents a small thaw in often fractious ties between the neighbors. Moreover, several bilateral projects such as transportation schemes have been launched as a result of this momentum.
Ankara also maintains its expectation that the current positive momentum in Turkish-Greek relations will reflect on the status of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace and Turkish communities in Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Kos. It also expects an end to rights violations affecting the Turkish minority and communities, and continues to communicate this to Greece.
