PM briefs Scholtz, support from Macron
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis showed a map of the “Blue Homeland,” which envisions Turkish influence over large swaths of the Mediterranean, to press home the point to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz regarding Ankara’s expansionist tendencies.
The two men met on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels amid escalating tensions between Greece and Turkey, with Ankara threatening to dispute Greece’s sovereignty over eastern Aegean islands, among a tirade of incendiary rhetoric. According to government sources, Mitsotakis briefed Scholz in detail on all these developments, including the violations of Greek airspace by Turkey. The two leaders also discussed support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion and the energy crisis.
Mitsotakis said he had made his position clear to Berlin that Germany must not adopt a stance of equal distance.
The chancellor, according to Mitsotakis, “realized the extent of the problem.”
“The map of the ‘Blue Homeland’ is the best proof that Turkey is threatening us,” he added.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a strongly worded statement on Greek-Turkish relations as he left the summit.
“The Greek prime minister has vigorously expressed Greece’s concerns, its legitimate concerns – and condemned the statements of some Turkish officials who question the sovereignty of Greece on many of its islands. I want to express the support of all Europeans, especially France. No one can question the sovereignty of any member-state today,” he said.
“These statements must be condemned as soon as possible, and that is exactly what I am doing here in front of you,” Macron said.
Mitsotakis told reporters that he informed his counterparts “about the escalation of the Turkish provocations.”
“I asked, if Turkey continues the same tactics, that the issue be discussed at the regular meeting in June and that there be an explicit reference in the conclusions,” the prime minister stressed.
