Erdogan attacks Greek PM Mitsotakis over F-16 deal, proclaims 'he doesn't exist for me'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, May 24, proclaimed that he no longer recognises Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, adding that he will not meet him at a planned summit. According to a BBC report, during his recent visit to the United States, Erdogan accused Mitsotakis of attempting to hinder the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. He asserted that there is no longer somebody called Mitsotakis in his book, adding that he will never agree to meet with the Greek PM again. Furthermore, the Turkish premier added that he does not expect the US to take Mitsotakis' views into account when deciding on the F-16 deal. He also announced the cancellation of a planned summit with Mitsotakis, which was scheduled for later this year.

Tensions between the Mediterranean neighbours have been surging since Mitsotakis urged a joint session of the US Congress last week seeking not to lift a ban on Turkey's participation in a purchase program for the next-generation fighter plane. The ban was enforced after Ankara bought a Russian S-400 air defence system in 2019. Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that this amounted to pushing US officials against Turkey and that it violated an agreement between Ankara and Athens "not to involve third nations" in disagreements.

Meanwhile, Greece's foreign minister Nikos Dendias asserted that Athens would not "slip into the trap" of unnecessarily raising tensions, according to Guardian. He stated that there is no need to respond in the same way, expressing surprise at Erdogan's reaction. While Greece and Turkey are formal NATO allies, their relationship is strained and has threatened to devolve into an outright confrontation on numerous occasions. For decades, the two countries have clashed over maritime and energy issues, Aegean air and sea rights, the partitioned island of Cyprus and most recently, migration. In 2020, the two countries came dangerously close to war over competing claims to offshore gas reserves in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey's stance on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership

In the meanwhile, as Finland and Sweden are seeking NATO membership, Turkish President Erdogan has made it clear that Ankara will not support their membership claiming that the two Nordic countries support terrorist organisations. However, both Finland and Sweden have expressed confusion over Turkey's stance on the situation.

Image: AP