Erdogan: Threatens to invade the Greek islands

Ankara continues to raise the bar against Athens with allegations of supporting and training terrorists and with Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatening to invade the Greek islands.

Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a Twitter message that Turkish police arrested a man named Husametin Tanri, whom they call a terrorist, since, according to Ankara, he belongs to a branch of the PKK and is accused of preparing terrorist attacks inside of Turkish territory. Mr. Soylou claimed that the arrested person was trained in Greece, specifically in Lavrio, and was sent from Athens to Turkey.

A few hours after Mr. Soylou's message, the deputy minister of the interior and the ministry's press representative Ismail Tsatakli emphasized that "Greece has granted the camp of Lavrio to the terrorist organization PKK. We call on Greece to act as a responsible and serious state in this matter. If the camp of Lavrio becomes in the future the "Qandil" of Greece (also a base of the PKK in northern Iraq), can they cope with the problem that will arise?". Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his speech in Samsuda accused the US of sending weapons to Alexandroupolis, said that Greece is threatening Turkey with the S-300 and threatened Athens, saying: "Hey, Greece! Look at History. Look back in history. If you slip away and move on, the price will be heavy, heavy. We have only one proposal for Greece. Don't forget Smyrna! Don't forget Smyrna!".

Mr. Erdogan claimed that Greece has occupied some islands and threatened a possible Turkish invasion. "It doesn't concern us if you invaded the islands, etc. When the time comes, the time, we will do whatever it takes. As we say... "we can come suddenly one night", he said. Yesterday, moreover, he declared that "Greece is not our equal neither economically, nor militarily, nor politically and that is why it is not our interlocutor".

The vice president of the Turkish government, Fuat Oktay, when asked by journalists about the possibility of conflict between Greece and Turkey, replied that "our president sent a message to Greece and the world. If you go into a game against Turkey you should think twice. Everyone should watch their steps before doing anything."

The president of the Nationalist Action Party and Mr. Erdogan's government partner, Devlet Bakhceli, supported the positions of the Turkish president and emphasized that "it is easy to cross the Aegean, our president said it well." Amidst this climate, Turkish Defense Ministry sources accused Greece of an aggressive posture in the Aegean and claimed that Turkish aircraft were harassed by radar jamming for 3.372 seconds in 14 separate incidents. "The Greek Armed Forces, which are constantly trying to increase tension in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, harassed Turkish aircraft on service flights by jamming them with radar for a total of 3.372 seconds, in 14 separate incidents, since August 15."

kathimerini.gr