From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Greek PM tells Turkey to halt ‘aggressive posturing’
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Greece’s leader calls on Turkey to stop its “aggressive posturing” and engage in talks over their maritime dispute, during a visit to Saudi Arabia to strengthen ties with Gulf countries.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warns that Greece has “drawn our lines very, very clearly” after signing defense deals with the United States and France earlier this month.
Mitsotakis also held talks with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, and Bahrain’s crown prince before addressing the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
“We are secure. I don’t think there is a geopolitical threat,” Mitsotakis tells the elite annual meeting dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” with Prince Mohammed in the audience.
“And I think at the end of the day Turkey will also realize that this aggressive posturing in the eastern Mediterranean is not going to lead anywhere.”
Tensions soared last year when Turkey sent a gas exploration ship and small navy flotilla to hunt for resources in waters which Greece considers its own under treaties.
In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan endorsed a formal partition of Cyprus, which Ankara invaded in 1974 in response to a coup engineered by Greece’s then military junta.
Greece also blames Turkey for not taking sufficient action to curb smugglers who send out migrants in unsafe boats and dinghies from its shores.
The Times of Israel Community.