Aegean waters heat up as Turkey, Greece exchange barbs over islands

IZMIR, Turkey — With rival tweets in each other's language, military maneuvers that exclude each other and confrontations at NATO gatherings, ties between Turkey and Greece continue to heat up over the Aegean Sea.

Speaking to his party’s lawmakers June 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece that “it would get hurt” if it continued to be “a bit player” in the attacks against Turkey. “We are aware of the historical game in which certain circles … spoil, encourage and set out Greece against Turkey,” he said. “ The problem is that Greece is [either] not aware of this scenario or is too happy to be a bit player in it. But it should remember that these bit players are the ones who get hurt the most and reap little benefit and recognition. This is what befell Greece in the past and will befall Greece in the future if it insists on making the same mistake.”

Erdogan’s words target a tweet by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that “Greeks must feel completely safe” in the face of escalation with Turkey.  “Our country does not only have a strong deterrent capability, which I believe we have taken care to strengthen during these three years, but it also has powerful allies,” he tweeted.

Following a landmark defense agreement last year, France, one of the strongest allies of Athens in the Eastern Mediterranean, delivered fourth-generation Rafale air fighters to Greece, boosting the country’s air force. Similarly, a few days before Mitsotakis’ high-profile visit to Washington in May, the Greek parliament approved the renewal and amendment of a defense cooperation agreement with the United States. The amendments to the accord, made in 2021, extended the cooperation by allowing the presence of US forces in four more military areas, including two army camps in central and northern Greece and a naval base on the island of Crete. Turkey has been critical of both accords.