The president Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit Greece with a new flurry of provocative statements, noting that Ankara no longer conducts bilateral negotiations with Athens.
“Did he allow American bases in Greece? Allowed. We had an agreement with Greece, I told my foreign minister about it yesterday. We terminated the Supreme Cooperation Council Agreement with Greece. We are for a worthy foreign policy,” the Turkish president said, speaking to the parliamentary group of his party.
“You go and show how your planes take off … What are you doing? Don’t you learn any lessons from history? And after that you start crying and whining,” Erdogan continued.
“Don’t try to dance with Turkey. You will get tired and stay on the road,” he stressed and added: “We no longer have bilateral negotiations with them. Unfortunately, this Greece will not take the right path. This is the Greek Cypriot lobby in the US and they are against us in Congress. We are already tired of them. If you are honest, your position is honest with us, if not, then do not understand me correctly.
Last week Tayyip Erdogan declared that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is for him “no longer exists”accusing him of trying to block the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during his recent visit to the US.
Erdogan on Hagia Sophia: “We closed the wound”
The Turkish President also mentioned the Hagia Sophia, which is one of the main areas of escalation of challenges posed by Turkey in recent days.
“We returned Hagia Sophia to its original form after 84 years and, thank God, closed the wound that tormented our heart. Hagia Sophia has once again taken its place in our culture as a raising flag in the heart of Istanbul,” the Turkish President said in his speech to the parliamentary group.
Earlier Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry addressed the issue in a series of posts accusing Athens of “expansionist aspirations” over a post by Nikos Dendias commemorating the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople.
“The fact that those who allegedly mourned Hagia Sophia did not oppose the demolition of mosques in Greece dating back to 1500, each of which is a cultural heritage, and turning them into cinemas, exhibition spaces, living quarters and warehouses, are hypocrites,” said the Turkish Ministry of Defense.
“The Greek administration, which does not even give a burial place to Muslims when they die, is trying to deceive its own people with gross illusions and cover up its dead-end realities. The sun cannot be covered with mud,” the Turkish Defense Ministry added.