Defense Minister urges Greece to refrain from hostile acts

ANKARA

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Sept. 2 warned Greece to keep peaceful relations with Türkiye instead of militarizing attempts.

“We continue to remind our interlocutors over and over again not to embark on an adventure, not to get into trouble again, not to take another big blow, to give up on attempts that will result in disappointment, and to take lessons from history,” Akar said at the “Flight Training Year Opening Ceremony.”

“You can’t get anywhere with this so-called armament, so-called alliance. Take the hand of peace we extended. Let’s continue our work in accordance with international law within the framework of good neighborly relations,” he added.

Türkiye will not allow any fait accompli and the violation of rights of Turks and Turkish Cypriots and will protect its rights and interests in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, he stated.

He recalled that Turkish jets were harassed by Greece’s Russian-made S-300 Air Defense System stationed on the Island of Crete on Aug. 23.

Reminding that Greece made an invasion attempt in 1919-1922 with the encouragement and support of some countries, Akar stated that as a result of this, Greece executed its prime ministers, ministers and even the chief of staff.

Elaborating on the harassment of Greek jets on Turkish aircraft, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, said radar locking of Turkish aircraft by means of S-300s deployed on the island of Crete is defined as a hostile act according to NATO standards.

“The identification of the radar locking of our aircraft in the NATO literature is a hostile action. Locking radar on the planes of a big NATO country such as Türkiye is beyond the limit; it is also a hostile approach towards NATO cooperation,” Çelik told reporters on Sept. 1.

On Aug. 23, the Crete-based S-300 air defense system of Greece locked on to the Turkish F-16s, the ministry announced, calling the move “hostile” and inconsistent with the spirit of the NATO alliance. Greece has been deploying the Russian systems in Crete since 1999. The original buyer of these weapons was Greek Cyprus, but it could not deploy them as a result of the harsh reaction from Türkiye in the late 1990s.

The incident has shown that Greece is actively using the systems.

After Greece categorically denied the incidents, Ankara decided to take the issue to the NATO headquarters, sources added. Greece accused Türkiye of violating its airspace and not informing about the flight plans beforehand.