The Turkish government had not made any official comment on the announcement by Nikos Kotzias of the expansion of the territorial waters in the Ionian Sea.

Ankara’s first reaction finally came today from the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlout Cavusoglu.

In an interview with “Anatoli”, noted:

“Greece often makes similar statements. There populism goes first. We are in favor of solving the issue in a peaceful way. We give them the appropriate answers and put them in their place. The Greeks know very well that we will not allow such a decision. We want to solve all the issues in the Aegean in a peaceful way. The Greeks know better that we will not allow an extension to the 12 miles … The Turkish government will not allow the extension of Greek territorial waters to naval 12 miles, the Casus Belli (cause of war) of the Turkish Parliament is valid … Whenever Greece makes provocative statements, we give the appropriate answers and we put them in their place. The Greeks should think how we can solve our problems”.

At the same time, according to Reuters, Cavusoglu urgently invited the Greek Ambassador to Ankara.