Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once again repeated his familiar rhetoric regarding the militarization of the Greek islands, speaking about Greek-Turkish relations following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan.

After concluding his visit, Erdoğan answered questions from journalists on his return to Turkey, addressing Greek-Turkish relations among other issues.

The question about Greece

A journalist asked him about Greece’s stance, noting that while Athens is sending messages of dialogue to Turkey, it is also increasing its military presence and capabilities on the Aegean islands.

The journalist also referred to recent statements by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who, despite Turkish objections, said that Greece’s plans in the region would not change.

Erdoğan replied: “What are we supposed to do? What is our responsibility? To do what needs to be done.”

“We say that we want to move forward with Greece on the basis of good neighbourly relations. If, from our territory, say from Kaş, we called out to Greece, would they not hear us? We have been sincere on every issue. We have been the side that has acted constructively. However, many times we have not seen the other side reciprocate our goodwill.”

“Greece must now understand something: Turkey does not covet anyone’s territory, but it will not allow anyone to violate its rights. Ignoring and violating international treaties will benefit no one. Anyone who interprets Turkey’s calm and prudent approach as weakness, I say this clearly, is making a serious mistake. Greece must abandon the wrong path it has taken and stop arming the islands that have a demilitarized status,” the Turkish president continued.

“History is a very good guide for those who need to learn from it. We will continue to work for peace, security and stability in our region,” he concluded regarding Greek-Turkish relations.

“Those seeking to undermine Syria’s internal peace must not be given room to do so”

At another point, Erdoğan was asked about the situation in Syria, making pointed remarks about those seeking to destabilize the country.

“As Turkey, we are saying the same things about Syria today that we said yesterday. We had pointed out that Syria cannot be a place where terrorist organisations operate freely, that instability there could spread throughout the region, and ultimately we were proven right. This means that America, too, has now understood the realities of Syria. The Syrian people have paid a very heavy price, but they managed to remain in their homeland. They are now working to rebuild the whole of Syria. In this context, I call on all neighbouring and friendly countries to help with Syria’s recovery and reconstruction. And we will continue to make this appeal.

The situation in Syria is also important because it demonstrates how correct our vision is and how realistic our policy toward Syria is. It is also crucial to address the challenges. It is essential not to give space to those who seek to undermine Syria’s internal peace. The road to stability in Syria runs through eliminating the seeds of division,” he said.

“We are not abandoning the development of our own air defence systems”

Regarding Turkey’s possible re-entry into the F-35 programme and the potential transfer of its S-400s to a third country, Erdoğan said:

“We discussed all the issues on our bilateral agenda with Mr Putin. As you know, Turkey was one of the partner countries in the F-35 programme and had made a significant contribution to it. Our discussions on Turkey’s re-entry into the programme are continuing. We believe that this issue will be resolved once the relevant procedures in the United States are completed.

As we make all these diplomatic efforts, we are not abandoning KAAN. We are not abandoning the development of our own air defence systems. On the contrary, we are expanding Turkey’s options. This means a strong Turkey. This is the roadmap for a strong Turkey.”