Speaking at a rally in Istanbul on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened military action against Greece.

“Look, Mitsotakis, you’re talking here and there again,” he said, referring to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “Keep in mind that the Crazy Turks will come if you attempt to make a mistake.”

As Turkey (Türkiye)’s economy has collapsed, Erdogan has sought to distract the Turkish public by waving the nationalist flag.

Often, the target of his vitriol is the United States. Sometimes, it is Israel or Armenia. Anti-Kurdish polemics always work. In recent years, however, Turkey’s threats toward Greece have become more frequent. These often manifest themselves in irredentist claims upon Greek islands in the Aegean. That Turkey violates Greek airspace with jet and drone overflights underscores the problem is not mere rhetoric.

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Congress has long ago recognized the Turkey problem. When the Congressional Turkey Caucus had over 200 members, then-Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan used its sign as a metric of Ankara’s influence.

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