“We will not engage in a war of words. Greece does not threaten and does not accept threats” — this was Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ response to Turkey’s systematic efforts to maintain heightened tensions in recent weeks. Once again, during a wide-ranging interview on ERT, he emphasized that Athens keeps its communication channels with its neighbor open. In that context, he also left open the possibility of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly — though, as he clarified, nothing has been officially scheduled yet.
Mitsotakis’ remarks came after a statement by the spokesperson of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, who — one day after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan — once again raised the issue of the demilitarization of Greek islands. Zeki Aktürk focused on Mitsotakis’ visit to the military facilities on Kastellorizo, describing it as “the legally demilitarized island,” a characterization also echoed by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
Mitsotakis: “Greece does not threaten and does not accept threats”
Reiterating the message he delivered on Sunday from the remote Aegean island, Kyriakos Mitsotakis once again stated on ERT that “we do not threaten anyone, but we will not accept threats from anyone either.” The Prime Minister also announced that work on laying the GSI electricity cable — which will connect Cyprus to Greece’s energy grid — will begin soon, without specifying a concrete timeline. He also sent a pointed message to Turkey, stating that “Turkey erecting barriers is not exactly the best response. There is coordination with the French side; this is no longer just a Greek project — it is now a French one as well.”
Despotopoulos to parapolitika.gr: Turkey is waging a systematic campaign to intimidate Greece
Turkish policy reflects a systematic effort to intimidate Greece and halt the implementation of its defense and energy plans, international relations expert Alexandros Despotopoulos tells parapolitika.gr. He notes that “Turkey sees a Greece that is moving forward with the electrical interconnection of Cyprus with Europe and Israel, a Greece that says it will extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles at certain points, a Greece that has awarded concessions to Chevron — in defiance of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum — and a Greece that has grown very close to Israel, which Turkey views as a systemic threat. On top of that, Greece is acquiring highly advanced defense systems from Israel, which the Turks now perceive as a direct threat. All of this has created a situation in Turkey where decades-old policies are being dismantled. Because when Turkey sees Israeli defense systems being deployed on the Greek islands, it understands that any doctrine of demilitarization — and any challenge to the sovereignty over those islands — becomes a dead letter.”
Despotopoulos: “The 12 nautical miles will indeed be a major crash test”
Against this backdrop, the most dangerous flashpoint in Greek-Turkish relations is, according to Despotopoulos, the potential extension of Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles south of Crete — a possibility that Mitsotakis himself left open during his most recent interview: “The extension to 12 miles is guaranteed under international law,” he reaffirmed on ERT.
According to international relations expert Alexandros Despotopoulos, such a move would overlap with part of Turkey’s illegal “Blue Homeland” claim and would trigger the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s 1995 resolution declaring it a cause for war (casus belli). “If we do this, a small but real portion of what is called the ‘Blue Homeland’ — a maritime area the Turks consider their own continental shelf, illegally of course, but they do consider it theirs — will be covered by our territorial waters. From that point on, we will be operating in a zone of 6 to 12 nautical miles that Turkey will claim as its own continental shelf. But for us, it will be sovereign national territory. A vessel entering that area with hostile intent would be like a tank attempting to cross the Evros River — it would be entering a sovereignty zone. That is precisely why this will be a major crash test. Keep in mind that since 1995, the Turkish Grand National Assembly has had a resolution stating that if Greece extends its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, there will be war. There will genuinely be a risk of escalation — but I still believe it will not spiral out of control. Because Turkey does not want that. It wants controlled tension, because it knows full well that Greece is not an easy adversary.”
The new landscape in US-Turkey relations — “We must project an image of normalcy”
Within this broader landscape, the United States views Greece as one of its strongest and most reliable allies in the Eastern Mediterranean. A key milestone in Greek-American relations is the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Athens in early October for the 6th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue. According to Despotopoulos, relations between Greece and the United States are in excellent shape, moving along a steady and predictable trajectory.
As he explains, “Greek-American relations are cooperative — we have no real problems there. By contrast, the framework for Turkey has deteriorated due to the Iran factor. Where the conversation used to be about whether and when the Turks would finally receive the F-35, the conversation now on the US-Turkey agenda revolves around which Turkish banks and companies will face American sanctions for their cooperation with Iran. So the relationship between the United States and Turkey not only shows no signs of improvement — despite Trump’s friendly public statements — but has in fact entered a new cycle of sanctions because of Iran. Look, the Turks want to project an image of instability and disorder in our region. We, on the other hand, must project an image of normalcy.”
