Turkey’s Akar says Greece spreading lies, won’t talk

Turkish officials continued their tactic of making aggressive statements against Greece and the European Union, with the defense minister accusing Greece of “spreading lies” and the representative of the ruling party admonishing the EU that, with the UK out, it better develop better relations with Turkey, on whom it depends for its security.

In a statement to Hurriyet newspaper, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar accused Greece of issuing navigational warnings without reason, since they are not followed by actual naval maneuvers.

“When we tell [Greece] ‘Let’s talk,’ it doesn’t approach… It goes door to door spreading its lies,” he said.

Greece has made it clear that it will only enter substantive talks with Turkey on the delimitation of the continental shelf and will not discuss any issues involving sovereignty that Turkey unilaterally invokes.