Ankara is amused by Greek threats to “react within five minutes” against Türkiye, according to its Defense Ministry.
Greece’s army chief, Dimitrios Houpis, made headlines earlier this month when he said at an economic forum that the Greek armed forces were “prepared to react within five minutes” to Türkiye, accusing the latter of what he called “revisionist tactics” regarding the maritime boundaries.
NATO allies Greece and Türkiye have long-standing disputes over boundaries in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean that have brought them close to war several times in recent decades.
“You cannot expect us to respond to statements that even they don’t believe to be true and that make them look ridiculous,” Defense Ministry sources said Thursday at a weekly press briefing when asked about Houpis’ remarks.
The sources also said the ministry was monitoring the Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) announced by Greece this week, which angered Ankara for including certain areas that violate Türkiye’s maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean.
The sources called Greece’s “unilateral planning” a violation of international law and said, “Greece’s unilateral actions, claims and statements that ignore existing disputes and violate the rights of the Turkish side are unacceptable.”
They said Greek statements did “not have any legal consequences” for Türkiye and called for “mutual dialogue and goodwill” to ensure a “fair, equitable and international law-compliant sharing of maritime jurisdiction in the region.”
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Ankara and Athens have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations since late 2023.
While officials on both sides have expressed commitment to maintaining the positive climate, the issues are longstanding and deep-rooted, and neither side expects the process to be without turbulence, particularly in the Aegean, where Turkish and Greek jets often scuffled until very recently.