Turkish Foreign Minister rants and raves about Greece and Greek politicians

The Turkish minister again threatened that the country occupying Cyprus will start the debate on the sovereignty of the islands. And of course he talked about the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

 Çavuşoglu claims that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when he met with Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, suggested that they solve any problems on their own without help or intervention from third countries. He stated about:

"At the dinner in Istanbul, you suggest to our president that we improve our relations, that we solve our problems and that we do not involve third countries and their parties in this process."

It is clear that Mr. Mitsotakis's visit to Washington is still bothering the Turks, as in addition to its success, something else is happening that angers them: that Erdogan has not yet been invited to the White House.

"Joint press conference with Foreign Minister of Northern Macedonia Bujar Osmani" is published on Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's personal YouTube channel, where, among other things, following a question from a Turkish journalist, the following statements of the Turkish Foreign Minister are recorded:
Ozden Erkuş - NTV reporter: Recently, the number of statements from Greece targeting Turkey and accusing Turkey has increased. In this context is the interview given the other day by the Greek Foreign Minister Dendias. There he continues his accusations against Turkey. Also on June 5, he made statements against Turkey in a meeting with Greek businessmen. On the one hand, the visit of the Greek Prime Minister to the ‘12 islands ’is still much discussed… and because of the statements he made there. There have also been reports that Greece has sent some maps to its missions abroad. How would you evaluate these statements and is there any planned contact with Greece on these issues these days?

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu: “In fact, I would not like to answer a question about Greece today because it can be misunderstood. Because, as is well known, there have been lengthy negotiations between Greece and 'Macedonia' over the name issue. "Macedonia" had to change its name to become a member of NATO.

Today they put other unacceptable conditions in front of ‘Macedonia’ so that it cannot become a member of the EU. I hope that on a more rational basis, the negotiations will start and continue fully within the framework of the accession criteria.

Indeed, the attitude of Greece, especially after the dinner of our President with Prime Minister Mitsotakis in Istanbul, on the last day of the Diplomatic Forum of Antalya, is not surprising. But there must be a reason that is so strongly against Turkey.

At the dinner in Istanbul you suggest to our president "let us improve our relations, let us solve our problems and let us not include third countries and their parties in this process" and go and oppose Turkey on every platform. In particular, you lobby for "Do not give Turkey the F16 it wants to buy from the United States." In fact, it is a move that does not fit into the NATO alliance. We never said "do not give this to Greece".

We have differences of opinion with Greece, there are issues on which we disagree, sometimes the tension increases, sometimes there is a recession, sometimes we revive exploratory and consultative talks… But there are also problems that have not been resolved for years: what is another reason why Greece is aggressive ; Violation by Greece of the status of the islands given to it by the Lausanne Treaties of 1923 and the Paris Agreements of 1947, provided that it does not equip them, and we highlight this violation in the context of international law.

We have written two letters to the UN. These islands were given to Greece on these terms, the agreements are clear, but Greece violates them, equips them. If Greece does not abandon this violation, the sovereignty of the islands will be questioned. Today I want to say once again: If Greece does not abandon these violations, the sovereignty of these islands will be questioned. This is clear.

You [i.e. Greece] will abide by the treaties if you talk about international law. You are constantly trying to teach a lesson to everyone, saying that "democracy started in Greece". But there are agreements. They become aggressive because they can not respond to the letters we send within the legal framework and accuse Turkey. "Turkey is pursuing an expansionist policy, it has taken our islands."

The letter we wrote is a very clear, unambiguous letter. Explains the situation in the legal context. This [i.e. Greece] can not answer this, or answers nonsense. Then it practices demagogy. Also, politicians in Greece have complexes, we have never had such a complex. If they do not attack Turkey every day, it is as if they can not please their own people. They have such a complex. This is actually a reflection of the inferiority complex.

There must be an explanation for this. I do not attack Greece every day. I do not need to either. It's not what the public expects of me. People do not say "Criticize Greece every day". All in the right amount when the time comes.

Also, when Greece came to us, it came with an offer of 25 points. It has to do with how we can improve our financial relationships with entrepreneurs. In this context, we held important meetings. We also had problems in our diplomatic relations and in our political relations with other countries. We are now normalizing our relations with many countries. But we never went and told our interlocutors, "Our relationship is bad, so stop trading there or stop investing."

We criticize each other on other platforms. But it was ridiculous for Dendias to go to businessmen and complain about Turkey. However, we do not do this to our entrepreneurs. In fact, when they ask us, when there is a problem with a country, we give them inspiration by saying "we will fix it, you continue your investment or trade". Because in international relations, ups and downs, friendships and collaborations can increase, these are natural things.

So in the end, unfortunately, the situation in which Greece has found itself is pathetic. But on one issue… I do not admit them for their complexion or for things they say that are untrue… Basically, on one issue, we do not appreciate it, but they do something very well. So, even when they are extremely wrong, they are very good at explaining how right they are to cry. I do not know if this should be assessed or evaluated differently.

Of course, each country must defend its own interests and its own truths. And the Foreign Ministers… and they come in your face directly, embracing you, when he returns, when he enters the meeting, hatred, hatred, lies, slander. These are not behaviors that are appropriate for politicians and countries. It is necessary to act more carefully within the law and within a specific understanding.

I hope that Greece will reach this line, but I say it once again: Greece must respond to the letters we have written and say that it does not violate the status of demilitarized islands. I have the documents, none of the reasons for the violation is invalid, if this violation is not ended, we have already started the discussion on the sovereignty of the islands, the sovereignty of the islands will be discussed. That's all we say. "