Turkish PM continues aggressive rhetoric against Greece
Continuing the aggressive rhetoric from Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has taken a dig at Greece as well as Cyprus, declaring that Turkey will not accept challenges to its sovereignty.
"Turkey will never tolerate certain circles which violate our sovereignty in the Mediterranean and Aegean," he said.
"Those who play at being pirates in the Aegean should not forget September 9, 1922," he said, referring to the Turkish military's reoccupation of Izmir.
Yildirim said his comments were "chiefly directed at those who are trying to confound Turkey's struggle against terrorism beyond its borders."
"Do not chase empty dreams of the Aegean and Cyprus," he said, adding that "history books write about the fate of those who previously had empty dreams about the Aegean and Cyprus."
Turkey is not a country "that will give in and say 'thank you,' stoking the dreams of those with ambitious foreign policies," he added.
Yildirim's comments appeared to be a response to those by Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos who, during an official visit to Armenia, said that Turkey should remember certain key defeats such as that of the Ottoman Empire in 1821.
