The Turkish leader declared that his latest weapons could “hit Athens”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Saturday that his country’s newest ballistic missiles could reach Athens, before reiterating Türkiye’s demand that Greece cease its militarization of the Aegean islands.
“Now we have started to make our own missiles,” Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday. “Of course, this production scares the Greeks. When you say ‘Tayfun’, the Greeks get scared and say ‘It will hit Athens’. Well, of course it will.”
Türkiye test-fired its ‘Tayfun’ ballistic missile in October, reportedly launching the projectile 561 kilometers (348 miles) along its Black Sea coast. The short-range missile was developed in secret by Ankara-based defense contractor Roketsan, and will supposedly be capable of striking land or sea targets at a range of just under 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
“If you don’t stay calm, if you try to buy something [to arm yourself] … a country like Türkiye will not be a bystander,” he continued. “It has to do something.”
Erdogan was referencing Greece’s transfer of American armored vehicles to the Aegean islands of Samos and Lesbos, which was reported by Turkish state media in September. While Ankara claims that this militarization contravenes a series of early 20th Century treaties, Athens maintains that it is entitled to station some troops on these islands.
Turkey has stepped up its rhetoric against Greece in recent months amid what Ankara sees as a growing military buildup on the Greek Aegean islands, close to Turkey’s coastline. In a repeated, thinly veiled threat, Erdoğan has said: “We can come down suddenly one night when the time comes.”
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu warned Greece to stop militarizing the Aegean islands, otherwise Ankara “will take the necessary steps on the ground.”
The Greek government lashed out at Turkey Monday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened over the weekend to hit Athens with ballistic missiles.
“It is unacceptable and universally condemnable for threats of a missile attack against Greece to be made by an allied country, a NATO member,” Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Monday, arriving in Brussels for a European Union foreign affairs meeting. “North Korean attitudes cannot and must not enter the North Atlantic Alliance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar accused Greece of increasing tensions with “unreasonable, illogical and unlawful demands and claims, as well as constant provocative actions and aggressive rhetoric.”
“It is not possible for us to accept any kind of fait accompli,” the defense ministry quoted Akar as saying during a Monday video conference with military commanders. “Our expectation is for some Greek politicians and military figures to immediately abandon their intransigent and provocative attitudes (that they have adopted) for domestic political purposes, focus on solving problems through dialogue and learn from history. Those who want a better tomorrow should turn away from the mistakes of yesterday and today.”
Although Greece and Türkiye are NATO allies, the two countries are historic rivals, and have a number of ongoing disputes. These include arguments over control of several Aegean islands, quarrels over drilling rights in the Mediterranean Sea, and the long-running dispute over the status of Cyprus.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with a delegation of US lawmakers in October, hailing the “extremely good” relationship between Athens and Washington during the talks. Mitsotakis also declared that Greece would not “accept an infringement of its sovereignty or sovereign rights” by Türkiye.
Earlier this year, Greece called upon its Western allies to put an end to Turkey’s inflammatory rhetoric or risk another Ukraine situation.
#BREAKING Türkiye's ballistic missile test 'scares' Athens, President Erdogan says, adding it will not sit idly if Greece continues to arm Aegean islands pic.twitter.com/vB9sc1JjFT
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 11, 2022