Greece-Egypt relations deep and strategic
Greek-Egyptian relations remain strategic and deep, according to Foreign Ministry sources on Thursday, referring to the recent visit of the Chief of the Armed Forces General Konstantinos Floros to Cairo.
Diplomatic sources stressed that the agreement on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Foreign Ministers Nikos Dendias and Sameh Shoukry in August 2020 remains the cornerstone of the bilateral texts between Athens and Cairo.
The same sources also hailed the protocol signed on Wednesday in Cairo by Floros and his Egyptian counterpart Lieutenant General Osama Askar for Greek officers to enroll at the Nasser Military Academy, Egypt’s highest military educational facility, as well as the country’s College of Command and Staff.
Erdogan rant
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued his rants against European Union institutions, namely the European Court of Human Rights, claiming, essentially, that it is biased against Turkey.
“When it comes to Turkey, it makes a political ruling. When it comes to France and Germany, it unfortunately comes to a different ruling,” said Erdogan. “Turkey has become a factor no one has the luxury of excluding from the redeveloping administrative global structure.”
Bahceli slams Menendez
At the same time, Istanbul-based Kathimerini correspondent Manolis Kostidis reported on Thursday that the far-right government partner Devlet Bahceli revisited Ankara’s claims that Greek S-300 surface-to-air missiles based on Crete locked on to Turkish F-16 fighter jets on August 23 while carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace.
Bahceli also took aim at US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, over his statements in Athens that Turkey is a greater threat in the Eastern Mediterranean, describing them as “arrogance, incompetence, blasphemy.”
Also on Thursday, the Ankara-controlled NGO called the “Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe” sent a letter to the UN secretary-general protesting alleged violations of the Lausanne Treaty on the issue of electing muftis in northeastern Greece.
