Some radical actors inside Greece are trying to sabotage the dialogue process between Türkiye and Greece, the spokesman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said Monday.
"The door of dialogue was opened after a meeting between our president (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) and (Kyriakos) Mitsotakis," Ömer Çelik told reporters in the capital Ankara, adding that some "radical actors" are working around the clock to sabotage this process.
Calling Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias a provocateur who transgressed his line, Çelik said he targeted Türkiye in his recent remarks about the Eastern Mediterranean and that he does not want dialogue.
He continued by saying that Dendias’s statements, which talked about how Greece would expand its armament of demilitarized islands in the Eastern Mediterranean, indicate that he does not want a dialogue and completely contradicts and targets Mitsotakis’ remarks in favor of dialogue.
This was not the first time Dendias made anti-Türkiye remarks.
Dendias, who once called Türkiye an existential threat to his country, named Greece’s neighbor as a "lurking intruder" as he spoke at a news conference with the Greek Cypriot defense minister back in July.
Reopening communication channels and promoting a positive agenda with Türkiye is really important, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said.
The two countries are at loggerheads over numerous issues, particularly competing claims to jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
Tensions flared in 2020 over exploratory drilling rights in areas of the Mediterranean Sea – where Greece and Greek Cyprus claim exclusive economic zones – leading to a naval standoff.
Athens has also been carrying out an ambitious rearmament program, building a military presence on the disputed Aegean islands in violation of postwar treaties, something Ankara has warned against, arguing that the continued militarization could lead to Türkiye questioning their ownership.
But since 2023, a friendly climate emerged between the pair, triggered by Greece sending assistance to Türkiye following two devastating earthquakes and Türkiye offering condolences after a deadly train crash in Greece.