Erdogan fumes over Greek armaments program
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has criticized Greece’s arms program and stated his intention to discuss it with the country’s next prime minister.
During a press conference on a flight back from Azerbaijan, Erdogan stressed his willingness to discuss the subject with New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, should he be re-elected as prime minister in the June 25 election. The NATO summit slated for July 11-12 in Vilnius may include a discussion on the topic.
“We are well aware of what we will convey: ‘Mr Prime Minister, it is time to halt the armament efforts. Where do you intend to go with these armaments? The United States consistently provides you with a substantial supply of weaponry. Why do you continue to procure them? Are they given to you for free?’” Erdogan said, noting further that “it is crucial to acknowledge that our purpose is to contain our adversaries, not to augment their numbers. This is Turkey, and this is Erdogan’s stance.”
Mitsotakis and Erdogan were until early this year not on speaking terms after the latter pledged never to have contact with the Greek premier again.
“After our election, Mitsotakis called me and congratulated me. So if something like that happens in Vilnius, we will not avoid meeting. We are two neighboring countries. As long as there are no ambiguous messages, we seek to reduce hostility, rather than increase it. So we will meet there as well. Of course there is something here,” he said.
At the same time, Erdogan told journalists, nothing is expected to change in Vilnius regarding Turkey’s stance on Sweden’s NATO membership.
“If you expect us to meet Sweden’s expectations, first of all, Sweden must eliminate everything this terrorist organization has done,” he said, referring to Kurdish activists in Sweden, recalling that while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg “was talking to us, unfortunately at that time terrorists were again demonstrating in the streets in Sweden.”
“So where is NATO’s anti-terrorism dimension? NATO needs to address it once. Since we have not dealt with it, we cannot say that we are in Vilnius and ‘Everything is great!’” Erdogan noted.
