Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoglu adopted a belligerent tone towards Greece in an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, in contrast to his recent rhetoric where he expressed the opinion that there could be an opening for cooperation with Greece in the Mediterranean.

“Athens does not want dialogue”

Speaking to the German medium, Mr. Cavusoglu commented on the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who likened Turkey to a “troublemaker” in the Mediterranean:: “The Greek Prime Minister should look in the mirror and wonder where he made mistakes. Since his taking office, President Erdogan has offered to work with him in the Mediterranean. We can solve the existing problems with the territorial waters in the Aegean. Erdogan wanted dialogue, but Athens was unwilling. Now Greece is making agreements with Mediterranean neighbouring countries. Instead of working with France and the EU against us, he should finally talk to us. Athens’ attempts to exclude us are in vain. We will defend our interests and those of the Republic of Northern Cyprus.” He went to make an open threat saying that if the Greek navy attempted to stop the Turkish drilling ships it would receive an appropriate response.

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The Turkish Minister argued in the interview that there was no need to appeal to an international tribunal to clarify the disputes with Greece in the Aegean, because there are already court decisions and because Turkey has already submitted to the UN the coordinates of its continental shelf.

On the issue of the controversy over the Hagia Sophia and the possible change of the UNESCO site back into a Mosque, he said: “This is a matter of our sovereign rights”, adding “Greeks are getting involved as if Istanbul and Hagia Sophia belong to them. Athens cannot give us instructions. We are not going to do something that we cannot justify. Muhammad the Conqueror captured Constantinople in 1453 and turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque, there are documents proving this.”