×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Monday
23
Mar 2026
weather symbol
Athens 10°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Politics

Erdogan disrupts NATO unity amid Putin’s threat to European security

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan negotiates political gains with NATO's expansion

Newsroom May 27 11:14

Internal NATO relations have become increasingly strained following Turkey’s apparent refusal to allow Sweden and Finland into the fold, with fellow NATO member Greece becoming the latest European nation on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s chopping block.

Erdogan took a swing at Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis this week when he accused him of attempting to block a U.S. arms sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.

“There’s no longer anyone called Mitsotakis in my book,” he told reporters following a Monday cabinet meeting.

The Turkish president also said he would refuse to meet his Greek counterpart for a previously planned summit later this year.

Erdogan’s comments came a week after the Greek prime minister met with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill and urged them to consider NATO’s security when making “defense procurement decisions concerning the eastern Mediterranean.”

“We are always open to dialogue. But there is only one framework we can use to resolve our differences – international law and the unwritten principle of good neighborly relations,” Mitsotakis told U.S. lawmakers. “The last thing that NATO needs at a time when our focus is on helping Ukraine defeat Russia’s aggression is another source of instability on NATO’s southeastern flank.”

See Also:

Turkey launches military incursion into Northern Syria

The Greek prime minister did not mention Erdogan or neighboring Ankara, but his comments alluded to a long-standing spat with Turkey over alleged airspace violations.

>Related articles

March 25th: “Parades with umbrellas and light jackets” – what meteorologists say about the weather conditions

Protothema at the bridge blown up by the Israelis in southern Lebanon – see shocking images and video

Protothema in Arad immediately after Iran’s strike: Hundreds injured by ballistic missile, an entire building vanished, watch video

Turkey and Greece, both of whom are NATO members, have shared a complex relationship for more than a century. But Athens and Ankara’s latest tiff amid Russia’s aggression in Europe could spell trouble for the very military alliance that Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to see dismantled.

“All nations act in their own self-interest, all the time,” Michael Ryan, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, told Fox News. “[Erdogan] defines the Turkish self-interests and he defines how they pursue it. And in this case, he views Turkey as a rising regional power, and he is pushing hard in every direction to certain Turkish prerogatives.”

Read more: Fox News

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#cyprus#diplomacy#eu#europe#Finland#greece#Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis#invasion#Joe Biden#NATO#politics#russia#Russian President Vladimir Putin#security#Stability#sweden#turkey#Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan#ukraine#usa#war#world
> More Politics

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Thriller at Limanakia Vouliagmenis: Search for a 34-year-old diver who went missing in a 28-meter-deep underwater shaft – the story of the “Devil’s Well”

March 23, 2026

March 25th: “Parades with umbrellas and light jackets” – what meteorologists say about the weather conditions

March 22, 2026

Protothema at the bridge blown up by the Israelis in southern Lebanon – see shocking images and video

March 22, 2026

Mystery solved: this is Banksy — How important is anonymity in the art world

March 22, 2026

Papastavrou in the U.S. for meetings with Chevron and ExxonMobil: Talks on fast-tracking energy agreements

March 22, 2026

Protothema in Arad immediately after Iran’s strike: Hundreds injured by ballistic missile, an entire building vanished, watch video

March 22, 2026

Tehran threatens to completely shut down the Strait of Hormuz – Blowing up the bridge is a prelude to an Israeli ground invasion, says Lebanon’s president (Update)

March 22, 2026

How the police investigation into Giorgos Tsagkarakis began – Anonymous tip, says Dimoglidi – See photos of the fake paintings

March 22, 2026
All News

> Lifestyle

Chuck Norris: How the shy little Native American boy conquered Hollywood and why he was called the “poor man’s Sylvester Stallone”

The legendary actor who rose to the top with his war and police films has passed away at the age of 86 – His journey from school years to the army and from there to film sets

March 20, 2026

The happiest countries in the world for 2026: Steady leader, Greece’s ranking and a surprise in the Top 5 – See the Top 10

March 20, 2026

Nikki Glaser to host the Golden Globe Awards for a third year

March 12, 2026

Conan O’Brien’s “amazing baklava” joke about Greece and his comment on the Middle East

March 12, 2026

Klelia Andriolatou begins filming her first international movie: “I felt deeply moved”

March 11, 2026
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2026 Πρώτο Θέμα