Greece seeks peace but will defend its rights against the provocation's made by Turkey said Greek Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostis Hatzidakis, who also added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is "unpredictable."
Hatzidakis also sent a message of determination, emphasizing in an interview that "if Turkey has decided to open the door of the mental asylum, we will not enter, we will defend our rights."
"The thing has exceeded all limits," the minister said, adding that Turkey "is out of control. Erdoğan is becoming more and more unpredictable."
Εάν η #Τουρκία αποφασίσει να συμπεριφερθεί κανονικά, μπορεί να γίνει μαζί της ό,τι έγινε με την Ιταλία και την Αίγυπτο. Εάν έχει αποφασίσει να ανοίξει την πόρτα του φρενοκομείου, εμείς πάντως δεν θα μπούμε μέσα. Θα υπερασπιστούμε τα δικαιώματά μας. pic.twitter.com/pP3xpFQaEs
— Kostis Hatzidakis (@K_Hatzidakis) October 16, 2020
Speaking to SKAI, he pointed out that although Greece is taking steps towards peace, "in any case we have in our minds the worst case scenario. We are running out of room for peace."
Regarding the extension of Greece's territorial waters from 6 nautical miles to 12, as permitted by international law, he noted that it is a "right" of Greece and the country will exercise it whenever it deems necessary.
"It is a firm position of all parties. This could have been done for four and a half years by [former Greek Prime Minister] Mr Tsipras, who proposed the expansion. We will defend the pride and the history of Greece", he stated, adding "Our country has agreed to delimit the Exclusive Economic Zone with Italy and Egypt, why can't we also with Turkey? because he obviously has a different attitude".
Concluding, the Minister of Environment and Energy pointed out that Greece gave "answers with the EastMed gas pipeline", but also in the case of Evros and the naval challenges.
"We want peace, but we are not prepared to relinquish Greece's maritime rights," he ended.
