President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye will not hesitate to utilize all means to protect its rights and interests, as he called on Greece to refrain from provocative actions and violations, criticizing Athens for escalating tensions in the Aegean.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on Monday, Erdoğan said Türkiye is closely monitoring Greece's provocative actions and violations. He noted that Greece is being "dragged into a swamp with military buildups."
The president reiterated that Greece is not at Türkiye's level and is not equal politically, economically or militarily and the military buildup will not help Athens to reach Türkiye's level.
"We will not hesitate to utilize all available means to protect our country's rights and interests against Greece, whereby necessary," the president said.
"Greek officials, who exploit policies for political gain, will be held accountable," Erdoğan said, adding that foreign military buildup throughout the country should disturb Greeks, not Türkiye.
Greece deployed armored vehicles to the Aegean Islands with non-military status, contrary to international law, reports said Sunday.
According to information received from security sources, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) performing mission flights in the Aegean detected movement and determined that two Greek landing craft were on the way to Lesbos and Samos.
It was revealed that the ships in question delivered 23 tactical-wheeled armored vehicles to Lesbos and 18 tactical-wheeled armored vehicles to Samos. It was noteworthy that the armored vehicles were among the vehicles sent to the port of Alexandroupoli (Dedeağaç) by the United States.
Security sources described these events on Sept. 18 and Sept. 21 as the clearest indication that Greece continues to arm the islands close to Türkiye, violating their legal status.
The sources stated that weapons provided by the U.S., in particular, were to be placed on the islands. They evaluated these aggressive actions of Greece, a NATO ally, as being against international law and the spirit of alliance, and as "never acceptable" against the calls for dialogue and good neighborliness.
President Erdoğan also said he drew attention to Türkiye's mediation role in the migration crisis and the Ukraine grain shipments on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week.
He noted that Türkiye's efforts were appreciated by other countries.
"Over 5 million tons of grain from Ukraine have been exported since the first vessel sailed under the Istanbul deal on Aug. 1," Erdoğan said, noting that engagements with both Russia and Ukraine will continue.
In July, Kyiv and Moscow signed landmark agreements with Türkiye and the United Nations that will free up Ukrainian Black Sea ports and clear the way for exporting millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain, as well as Russian grain and fertilizer.
Brokered by Türkiye and the U.N., the major breakthrough marks the first step to ending a standoff that threatened world food security and will ease the looming global food crisis while the two countries are at war in Ukraine.
The signing of the deal in Istanbul was overseen by Erdoğan – a key player in the negotiations who has good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv – and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Last week Russia and Ukraine exchanged 200 prisoners of war as a result of Türkiye's mediation and diplomatic traffic conducted with the countries' leaders, Erdoğan announced.