Greece has challenged NATO and its allies, not Türkiye, by locking its air defense systems on Turkish jets carrying out a NATO reconnaissance mission, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Tuesday.
Erdoğan lashed out against Greece over the harassment of Turkish jets carrying out reconnaissance missions over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, calling it a "hostile act."
"Greece has challenged NATO and its allies by increasing its hostile attitude, which started with harassing our airspace and aircraft and escalated to the level of S-300 radar lockdown," the president said, ahead of a celebration concert for the centenary of Türkiye's Victory Day at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.
The Turkish leader added: "Greece can neither match up to us nor become an interlocutor for us politically, economically or militarily."
Greek surface-to-air missiles locked on to Turkish F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace, it was reported on Sunday. The F-16s were at an altitude of 10,000 feet to the west of Greece’s Rhodes island when the Russian-made S-300’s target tracking radar locked on.
Last week, Türkiye also summoned the Greek military attache and filed a complaint with NATO after Greek F-16s harassed Turkish F-16s that were conducting a mission for the alliance.
Greece rejected the Turkish version of events. The Defense Ministry said five Turkish jets appeared without prior notification to accompany a flight of U.S. B-52 bombers – which hadn’t been due to have a fighter escort – through an area subject to Greek flight control.
Although both NATO members, Türkiye and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disputes over the airspace there.
Tensions flared in 2020 over exploratory drilling rights in areas of the Mediterranean Sea where Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration claim exclusive economic zones, leading to a naval standoff.
Türkiye has accused Greece of violating international agreements by militarizing islands in the Aegean Sea. But, Athens says it needs to defend the islands – many of which lie close to Türkiye's coast.
The president further said that he is curious about the United States' response to the Greek air defense system's harassment of Turkish jets.
"By serving Greece the F-35s it has denied us, the U.S. has with its own hands opened the way for these jets to be in the same bag with Russian air defense systems," he added.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has often criticized the military alliance, including the United States, for not supporting it enough on its territorial dispute with Greece on islands in the Aegean and the issue of exploration of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Erdoğan further said the Greek move to establish bases on the Aegean islands does not hold any importance for Türkiye.
'Issue not S-400s, but Türkiye'
Citing the U.S. sanctions waiver for India despite a similar S-400 purchase, Erdoğan said the issue isn't the use of Russian air defense systems and U.S. products together, but Türkiye in particular.
Ankara's purchasing of S-400 air defense systems, of which the first delivery arrived in July 2019, has been a point of long-standing contention between Türkiye and the U.S.
The U.S. response to the purchase was to unilaterally expel NATO ally Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet development program, where it was a major manufacturer and buyer.
Türkiye has called the move unjust and demanded reimbursement for its $1.4 billion payment.
Washington argues that the S-400s could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details on the F-35 jets and that they are incompatible with NATO systems.
Türkiye, however, insists that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.
Türkiye is able to produce every product that it is denied of, Erdoğan said, criticizing the U.S. for blocking the sale of F-35 jets to Ankara over Russian S-400 defense systems.
Türkiye's defense chief on Monday also lashed out against Greece over the harassment of Turkish jets carrying out reconnaissance missions over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
"The action of our bad neighbor (referring to Greece) needs to be seen, understood and explained. Such blatant insolence, recklessness is unacceptable," said Hulusi Akar at a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) ceremony.
"Unfortunately, this bad neighbor (Greece) is constantly harassing (Türkiye) in various ways in the Aegean. I'd like to make it clear once again that our navy, land and air forces do not and will never compromise on any kind of harassment," Akar further said.
Referring to Türkiye's request of long-range regional air defense systems from the United States, he said: "They did not give the Patriot air defense system. We spoke to France and they did not give SAMP-T. Then we bought the S-400 system and everyone criticized by asking 'how could you get it.'
"But on Aug. 23, an S-300 system, a sub-model of S-400, radar-locked the Turkish F-16s operating within NATO. The action of our bad neighbor needs to be seen, understood and explained. Such blatant insolence, such recklessness is unacceptable."
Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months, saying such moves frustrate its good faith efforts for peace.