Turkey has exhausted Europe’s patience, says Greek government spokesman
Europe appears to be running out of patience with Turkey and its renewed aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Friday, commenting on the ongoing European Council summit in Brussels.
“The prevailing climate indicates that Turkey has proven unreliable. Even certain countries that believed Turkey would do what is said have been contradicted by developments in recent days,” Petsas told state broadcaster ERT on Friday, the second and final day of the meeting the summit.
“So, what we have is a climate which indicates that Europe’s patience with Turkey is running out, because Europe had been deceived by Turkey,” he added in comments that came a day after France and Germany called on Ankara to cease provocations in the Eastern Mediterranean and gave it a week to clarify its positions.
Athens, said Petsas, is seeking a “nexus of measures and sanctions so that Turkey understands that Europe is determined to impose sanctions when it judges this to be necessary, with a horizon of the next few weeks.”
He also said that apart from Europe, Turkey’s actions should be condemned by the United States and Russia.
He welcomed a statement by US presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday in which the Democratic candidate vowed to “call out Turkish behavior that is in violation of international law or that contravenes its commitments as a NATO ally,” if he is elected.
Petsas also hailed the relationship between Athens and the current US administration, describing it as “constructive.”
“The present leadership, not just at the presidential level but also at the State Department level, has shown that it is moving away from a policy of equal distances and clearly supporting Greek positions, because the law in our side and our allies always stand on our side,” added Petsas.
“The US stance is constructive but we – for our part – at must show composure right now because the period until new leadership takes over could definitely be used by Turkey to create various disturbance,” he said.
