President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece on Saturday that it would pay a “heavy price” if it continued to harass Turkish warplanes over the Aegean, hinting at military action.
The two troubled NATO neighbors have long-held disputes over sea and air borders, leading to near-daily air force patrols and intercept missions, mainly around Greek islands near the Turkish coast.
“Hey Greece, look at the story. If you go further, you will pay a heavy price,” Erdogan said before a crowded rally in the Black Sea city of Samsun.
Greece and Turkey have turbulent histories dating back centuries, with disputes over maritime borders and the partition of Cyprus in 1974.
Turkey has complained in recent months about what it calls provocative actions by Athens, saying such moves undermine peace efforts.
In one such incident, Ankara said last weekend Greece used a Russian-made air defense system to harass Turkish jets on a reconnaissance mission in what it called “enemy action.”
In his speech, Erdogan accused Greece of “trying to threaten us with S-300”.
Athens denies the allegations and often accuses Ankara of overflying Greek islands.
Turkey says Greece is stationing troops on islands in the Aegean in violation of peace treaties signed after the world wars.
– ‘Don’t forget Izmir’-
An enraged Erdogan accused Greece of “occupying” the islands.
“We have only one word to say to Greece: don’t forget Izmir (Smyrna in Greek),” Erdogan said, referring to the end of Greek occupation after Turkish troops invaded the city on the Aegean coast in 1922.
“Their occupation of the islands does not bind us,” said Erdogan.
“When the time comes, we will do what is necessary. As we say, we may come suddenly one night,” he uses his oft-repeated words when threatening an operation in neighboring Syria.
In June, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara would challenge Greece’s sovereignty over the islands if it continues to send troops there.
The Aegean has a complex geography with over 2,000 islands, most of them Greek.
The two countries teetered on the brink of war in the 1990s over a pair of small uninhabited islands collectively known as Kardak in Turkish and Imia in Greek.
Erdogan broke off dialogue with Greece after accusing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of lobbying against US arms sales to his country.
Mitsotakis “doesn’t exist for him anymore,” he raged in May.
Greece and Turkey are also competing for US arms.
In June, Greece formalized a request for US-made F-35 fighter jets.
Turkey is negotiating to buy F-16s after Washington kicked Ankara out of the F-35 program for receiving an advanced Russian missile defense system in 2019.
