Defense minister calls on Greece to drop 'provocative' approach
| AA Photo


Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık on Saturday called on Greece to solve problems through talking and to refrain from making "provocative statements" following the tension on the Aegean Sea.

Işık said neighboring countries should work together to solve their problems and warned his Greek counterpart, Panos Kammenos, that provocative statements must end.

"In recent days, we sadly watched the Greek defense minister make extremely unfounded and irresponsible statements," Işık said during a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Turkey's northwestern province of Kocaeli.

The Turkish foreign minister also released a statement late Friday about Kammenos's Turkey remarks on Greek TV Wednesday, stating, "we condemn his baseless, inappropriate as well as unethical expressions against our country and our President and return them to their owner."

On Thursday, some Greek media outlets reported that Greek paratroopers landed on Kos, an action that violates the Paris Peace Treaty, which prohibits all military activities in the island.

Kos is part of the Dodecanese chain of islands, placed under demilitarization as part of a peace accord after World War II, when Italy ceded them to Greece.

Turkish-Greek relations have been strained since the Greek court's refusal of the extradition of eight Turkish officers who fled with a military helicopter following failure of the July 15 coup attempt.