Erdogan Stops Talks With Greece

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey would stop talks with Greece, in part due to disagreements with the Greek prime minister and what Ankara calls air space violations, marking the latest deterioration in the tested relations of two neighbouring states.

“We will no longer hold bilateral meetings with them,” the president said in a speech to his parliamentary group in Ankara.

“We had a strategic top council agreement with Greece, but I announced yesterday that we no longer adhere to this” agreement, Erdogan added.

Last year, after a five-year break, the two NATO members resumed talks to address their disputes in the Mediterranean Sea and other bilateral issues. Talks have made little progress, and countries have often exchanged accusations against each other.

The countries have long had disagreements over a range of issues such as maritime borders, claims sea borders, airspace, refugees and Cyprus.

Tensions rose again last week, when Erdogan said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “does not exist in” for him, charging he was making efforts to block the sale of American F-16 fighter aircraft during a visit to the United States.

Today, referring to Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis, but not mentioning his name, Erdogan said: “He goes to the US and makes comments against us before Congress. This ends here”

On Tuesday, Mitsotakis told reporters after a European Union summit that he had informed his EU counterparts of “aggressivity” and Turkey's “provocations” that cannot be tolerated by Greece or the European Union.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevluut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Greece is violating international agreements defining the demilitarised status of islands in the Aegean, warning that if Athens does not change the course of action, Ankara will challenge island sovereignty.

Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Cavusoglu's comments showed Turkey is threatening Athens.