Greece compares Turkey to North Korea in latest row with Erdogan
Erdogan’s remarks raise stakes in rivalry between fellow NATO members as threatening rhetoric escalates.
ISTANBUL — Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias likened Turkey to North Korea today after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Turkish missiles could hit Athens in a further escalation of the war of words between the NATO allies.
“It is unacceptable and universally condemnable for threats of a missile attack against Greece to be made by an allied country, a NATO member,” Dendias said while attending a European Union meeting in Brussels.
“North Korean attitudes cannot and must not enter the North Atlantic alliance.”
Growing tensions between Ankara and Athens in recent months have fueled fears of a military confrontation between the neighbors. They have come to the brink of war three times in the past half-century, and their air forces often engage in dogfights in disputed airspace.
