Erdogan halts Turkey-Greece talks as rift widens

Turkish president says will pause talks, partly over dispute with Greek PM and what Ankara calls airspace violations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks
Erdogan not too long ago stated Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis 'not exists' for him [File: Markus Schreiber/AP]

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated Turkey is halting talks with Greece, partly over a dispute with the Greek prime minister and what Ankara calls airspace violations, marking the most recent reversal within the neighbours’ long-testy relationship.

Final 12 months, after a five-year hiatus, the 2 NATO members resumed talks to deal with their variations within the Mediterranean Sea and different bilateral points. The talks have made little progress and the nations have incessantly traded barbs.

Erdogan stated on Wednesday that Turkey had cancelled a bilateral cooperation platform, dubbed the Excessive-Degree Strategic Council, with Greece, including in a speech to legislators from his governing celebration that Ankara wished a overseas coverage that “had robust character”.

“You retain placing on reveals for us together with your planes,” Erdogan stated, referring to a dispute with Athens about airspace over islands within the Aegean Sea. “What are you doing? Pull your self collectively. Do you not study classes from historical past?”

“Don’t attempt to dance with Turkey. You’ll get drained and caught on the highway. We're not holding bilateral talks with them. This Greece is not going to see purpose,” he stated.

The nations have lengthy been at odds a few vary of points comparable to maritime boundaries, overlapping claims over their continental cabinets, airspace, refugees and Cyprus.

The talks had made little headway, however have been a method for the 2 nations to air out their grievances with out resorting to a possible armed standoff as had occurred as not too long ago as two years in the past.

Tensions flared once more final week when Erdogan stated Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “not exists” for him, accusing him of attempting to dam gross sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey throughout a go to to america.

On Tuesday, Mitsotakis instructed reporters after a European Union summit that he had briefed his EU counterparts about Turkey’s “aggressiveness” and “provocations which can't be tolerated by Greece or the European Union”.

“I cannot be concerned in a sport of non-public insults,” he stated.

Turkish International Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated on Tuesday Greece was violating worldwide agreements that decide the demilitarised standing of islands within the Aegean, warning that if Athens didn't change course Ankara would launch challenges over the islands’ standing.

Greece’s Ministry of International Affairs stated Cavusoglu’s feedback confirmed Turkey was threatening Athens.

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