The insulting characterizations of the Greek Armed Forces by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has provoked reactions from Athens.
According to a report by George Papakonstantinou on Open TV, on a rhetorical level what well-informed sources said is that everyone in Turkey should understand that the Greek Armed Forces are not joking .
The same sources added that if the Turkish president decides to make the mistake of taking the first step, then he should know in advance that this first step will have a destructive response for him and for Turkey.
The Greek Armed Forces, the sources said, do not play games.
It should be noted that Tuesday was a particularly tense day in the Aegean skies with seven engagements and a total of 12 violations by 18 Turkish aircraft, which were intercepted by Greek alert aircraft.
At the same time, in Turkey there is a daily escalation. Erdoğan talks about the power of weapons, insults Greece and the Armed Forces, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu addresses a provocative and aggressive call for dialogue, saying "If you have the guts, come".
According to the correspondent of Open TV in Istanbul, Maria Zacharaki, Ankara has been sending a double message to Athens in recent days.
On the one hand, the Turkish president, claims that Greece does not have the capabilities to confront Turkey militarily, but on the other hand, on Tuesday the Minister of Foreign Affairs said "you do not have the guts or to sit at the table for dialogue, you have no arguments".
Çavuşoğlu referred again to Kastellorizo and tried to present Greece as being irrational, since, as Zacharaki explains, the communication tactic to antagonise Greece continues from Ankara, not only in terms of statements but also by the Turkish press who reproduces these statements provocatively.
The opposition in Turkey , according to the report, claims that Erdoğan is the one who does not really have the guts to come to the negotiating table and directly challenges foreign policy. The opposition says Erdoğan's vociferous statements to Greece are messages to an internal audience and that the Turkish president's foreign policy has effectively failed and led to his isolation from international forces.
The Kemalist opposition emphasizes that all this war rhetoric is for nothing more than a bluff.
