Greece on Sunday criticized Germany for the sale of Type 214 submarines to Turkey, asserting that it “risks shifting the balance of power” in the region as tensions between the two countries are once again high.
“These submarines risk shifting the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean in favor of a country that, despite being a NATO member, has issued a threat of war, a casus belli, against my country, against Greece,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Twitter.
He accused Turkey of violating Greece’s sovereign rights and said that Greece does not threaten any of its neighbors while abiding by the law.
Furthermore, in talks with the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Dendias briefed the top French diplomat on the latest situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Dendias again accused Turkey of an “upsurge in rhetoric and actions that are destabilizing the region” and called for European solidarity.
“Thanks to French weapons, Greece's deterrent power is being strengthened against any external threat. But I’d like to acknowledge, and thank you for this, that France has always been staunchly on our side,” he added.
Turkey has often warned Greece against indulging in an arms race, offering instead to resolve all outstanding issues, including in the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean and the island of Cyprus, through dialogue.
Greece has ordered 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets – six new and 18 previously in service with the French Air Force, as well as three French frigates.
Greece also sent a letter of request to the United States to buy a squadron of F-35 fighter jets in June.
Dendias’ words come after Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu urged Germany on Friday to be “an honest broker” and not always side with Athens in disputes between Turkey and Greece.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met with Çavuşoğlu in Istanbul after holding talks with officials in Greece, where she criticized Turkey for disputing the sovereignty of Greek islands near its coastline.
Çavuşoğlu said Turkey wanted Germany to adopt the same “balanced and trusted” attitude displayed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel who had mediated between Ankara and Athens in the past.
Turkey in recent months has stepped up criticism of Greece stationing troops on islands in the eastern Aegean, near the Turkish coast and in many cases visible from shore. These islands were required to be demilitarized under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris, so any troops or weapons on the islands are strictly forbidden.
Also, Turkey and Greece have traded accusations of airspace violations in recent weeks.
Turkey and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, air space, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
Tensions flared again when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis "no longer exists" for him, accusing him of trying to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit to the United States.
