The government of the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has condemned threats from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Turkey has also claimed Kurdish terrorists have been training in Greece.
President Erdogan made his remarks on Saturday during an aerial technology event in the city of Samsun, located on the Black Sea. Erdogan threatened Greece over islands in the Aegean saying, “Your occupying the islands does not bind us. When the time, the hour, comes, we will do what is necessary.”
Turkey has repeatedly claimed that Greece has militarized islands in the Aegean Sea in violation of existing treaties between the two countries, accusations Greece has rejected in recent months.
The Czech Foreign Ministry spoke out on Erdogan’s remarks on Sunday, stating that they were “unacceptable” stating, “Unacceptable threatening of EU member states, like the one addressed to Greece in President Erdogan’s recent public speech, is extremely unhelpful in this regard,” the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reports.
Greece also issued a statement on the matter saying, “We will inform our allies and partners on the content of the provocative statements … to make it clear who is setting dynamite to the cohesion of our alliance during a dangerous period.”
Following the threats from President Erdogan, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced the arrest of a member of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with the minister stating that the alleged terrorist had been trained in Greece. Soylu has previously called Greece a “training centre for terrorists”, an accusation Athens has rejected.
The statements and threats are just the latest from Turkey in recent weeks and come just days after Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar launched their own threats toward their neighbour.
While Greece and Turkey are part of the NATo alliance and alleged allies on paper, tensions have been high between the countries in recent months over a number of issues including Turkish expansionist policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and resource exploration.