The war of words continues to escalate between Turkey and Greece as the Turkish government has stepped up its irredentist rhetoric regarding Greece’s Imia Isle over the past several months.
Turkey’s claims to Greece’s Imia Isle have previously led the two countries to disputes which came extremely close to an outbreak of military forces in both 1987 and as recently as 1996.
Over the weekend Turkey’s Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu made the threat that Turkey could set foot on the Imia isles whenever desired.
In response the Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos stated that “There is no way Cavusoglu can step onto a Greek island. If they want to they can see. I’ll see how they will get off the island if they set foot there.”
The Defense Minister furthered his message to Turkey by adding that any provocation by Turkey will be met with Greece’s armed forces.
In turn, less than 24 hours after Kammenos’ comments, the Turkish Minister volunteered more statements on the matter insulting Greece’s defense minister without mentioning his name, saying that he is “a man with complexes.” The Turkish minister also added that Greece is a “spoiled” country and issued a warning not to forget what the Turkish military is capable of exacting on the Greek people.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the following statement in response:
“When someone is unable to respond politically to the facts, he may very well not understand them. He may not grasp the technical, legal and political aspects of the issues, and for this reason chooses to make personal attacks. Attacks that do not promote the relations between the two countries and are foreign to our political culture. One’s actions reflect on oneself.”
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