Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he does not believe in claims that the US military bases deployed in Greece are directed specifically against Russia.
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“Nine US military bases have been set up in Greece at the moment. Who are they deployed against? They say they are against Russia. But we won’t fall for it,” he stressed at a press conference in Ankara following negotiations with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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Erdogan also recalled that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis first suggested that he negotiate between Ankara and Athens without the participation of third countries, and two weeks later he spoke in the US Congress, where he delivered a speech with anti-Turkish rhetoric.
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In May, the Turkish President said that the Greek Prime Minister, after a visit to the United States, where he urged not to sell F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, “does not exist” for him anymore. In Athens, they answered that they did not intend to get involved in a polemic with Turkey.
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Turkey and Greece, members of NATO, have repeatedly found themselves on the verge of military conflict due to the status of disputed islands in the Aegean Sea, the boundaries of territorial waters and airspace. The Greek Prime Minister said on May 25 at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he would raise the issue of Turkish aviation violating his country’s airspace until Turkey stopped doing so. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu the next day accused Greece of violating international obligations regarding the demilitarization of islands in the Aegean Sea, threatening retaliatory measures.
