Fahrettin Altun, head of Turkish presidential communications, pointed out that “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened channels of dialogue with Greece, but the government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not take advantage of this opportunity.” This is stated in an interview with the Greek newspaper Kathimerini about the course of relations between Ankara and Athens against the backdrop of Erdogan’s statements in which he criticized Mitsotakis for setting the Americans against Turkey.

Last May, President Erdogan announced that his country had “cancelled a strategic council meeting with Greece” and explained that “Mitsotakis incited the Americans not to provide F-16s to Turkey.”

Erdogan stated: “We were going to hold a meeting of the Joint Strategic Council (with Greece) this year, for me there is no one else named Mitsotakis, and I do not accept such a meeting with him at all, because we continue our path with noble people who respect their vows.”

When asked by the newspaper about these statements, Altun pointed out that “Turkey wants to have good relations with all its neighbors so that peace and stability reign in the region, but does not allow anyone to take advantage of their good intentions.” He explained that “Mitsotakis has committed not to involve third parties in bilateral relations between Ankara and Athens, but did not do so and issued anti-Turkish messages to the United States.

He stressed that “Greece is only harming itself by opposing Turkey with little calculation or by relying on third countries, namely the side that has been fomenting tensions in the Aegean for months now.”

On the possibility of holding a meeting between Erdogan and Mitsotakis at the next stage, a representative of the Turkish President ruled out such a development in the light of the current circumstances.