[NATO internal strife? Turkish President: Athens’ occupation of the Aegean Sea islands is not a problem we are worried about. When the time comes, we will definitely take measures! 】
Turkish President Erdogan (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) warned the Athens authorities to stop and said that when the time is right, Turkey will take necessary measures.
According to a report by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation International Channel (TRT World) on September 3, Erdogan mentioned Izmir in his speech, which is where the Turkish army moved from during the second Greco-Turkish War in 1922. Greece occupied a Turkish province retrieved from the western coast of the Aegean Sea.
Turkey warned that Greece would pay a heavy price if it "goes too far", a statement that came as Ankara said authorities in Athens were creating tensions. "Greece, look at history and go back to the past; if you go too far, the price will be heavy." On September 3, Erdogan said at Teknofest, Turkey's largest aviation and aerospace exhibition: "We say to Greece : Think Izmir.
70 Turkey has been a member of NATO , and he complained about the provocative actions and rhetoric carried out by neighboring Greece in the region in recent months, saying that such actions are damaging. its sincere efforts for peace. On August 23, while performing NATO missions over the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Turkish fighter jets were harassed by a Russian-made S-300 air defense system stationed on the Greek island of Crete. Greek military officials denied Turkey's characterization of the actions, which are classified as "hostile acts" in NATO's rules of engagement (RoE).
Since the beginning of 2022, Greek warplanes have violated Turkish airspace 256 times and harassed Turkish jets 158 times. Greek Coast Guard vessels also violated Turkish territorial waters 33 times.