Turkey president backs inflammatory rhetoric Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In his post, the Turkish president stated that “we have not forgotten and will never forget the massacre in Tripoli that took place on September 23, 1821, during which thousands of Muslim Turks, our Albanian brothers and Jews were brutally killed.”

On September 23, 1821, thousands of Muslim Turks, our Armenian brothers and sisters and Jews were brutally murdered, and we will not forget the massacre in Tripoli. pic.twitter.com/3dTd0Fl1n2

— Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RTErdogan) September 23, 2022

“Greece is following us”

In addition, in his statements after Friday prayers, the President of Turkey said that Greece is following Turkey, which, he said, has a stronger network of communication with the world.

When asked by a journalist about the creation of a communications department by Greece “for the purpose of propaganda in the world media against Turkey’s positions,” the Turkish president said: “Let him do it.”

The Turkish President added: “She (in Greece) has a communications department, but we don’t? Our communication direction is much stronger, at the moment it has created a much better network of communication with the world. And he still does. They follow us from behind like wagons.”

Our President Erdogan explains… https://t.co/AmrgDhifHm

— AK Party (@Akparti) September 23, 2022

Recall that Tayyip Erdogan spoke from the UN rostrum on Tuesday with extreme characteristics against Greece regarding the situation with refugees and relations between the two countries in the Aegean Sea, which further exacerbated tensions in relations with Athens. This action is seen as part of Turkey’s concerted effort to defame Greece in all forums and on a number of issues that Ankara has taken up in recent months.

The Turkish President, in his speech, initially touched on the issue of refugees and stated that “Greek atrocities are on the rise in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. While we are fighting to prevent child mortality, Greece, with its illegal and reckless resistance, is turning the Aegean Sea into a refugee graveyard.” Mr. Erdogan, holding up pictures of the dead children, showed them to the audience and stated that “Last week, 4-year-old Abdul Wahab and 9-month-old Asim died along with their families when their inflatable boat was sunk by the Greek Coast Guard. . The time has come for Europe and the UN to stop these acts of violence, which are crimes against humanity.”

In his speech, the Turkish president did not go into details of Turkey’s claims in the Aegean, but said that “those who demonstrate power in the region are not equal and are not connected either militarily or politically, they put themselves in a ridiculous position. In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, the continuation of peace and security depends on respect for the rights and interests of all,” Mr. Erdogan stressed, adding: “We call on Greece to stop its policy of provocation and tension and listen to our calls. for cooperation and support.”

“Turkey is defending its rights and interests in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean to the end, it will not get involved in the games of those who adhere to the strategy of tension for the purpose of political expediency,” he stressed. He went on to call on the international community to recognize occupied Cyprus as the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” and spoke of the “oppression of the Turkish Cypriots” through the embargo, which “must be ended”. The Turkish President said that Greece also pursues a “policy of oppression and discrimination” against the Muslim “Turkish minority”.

Strict response to Ankara through Mitsotakis’ speech at the UN

A new escalation from Ankara, which this time was shown by the most official UN forum in New York and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself, is under the close attention of Athens. Mr. Erdogan’s non-existent allegations were immediately answered by Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and in a scheduled speech today Friday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to make a more comprehensive statement that will present the Greek positions as well as the malign nature of the Turkish positions.

In addition to this diplomatic and communication direction, Athens is skeptical about the motives for Erdogan’s statements. Given that a scenario of potential tensions is slowly but surely building up in both the Aegean (incidents) and the Eastern Mediterranean (possible expansion of investigations), there is no inclination in Athens to interpret Mr. Turkey.

Mitsotakis: “Ankara is a source of instability in the Eastern Mediterranean”

Mr. Mitsotakis has already given sharp replies to the President of Turkey. Initially, during a dinner hosted in his honor by expats in New York, he said Greece would not tolerate “bullying” from Ankara, referring to the rest of his UN speech today. Later, in an interview he gave to Bloomberg and CNN, Mr. Mitsotakis said that “the accusation of crimes against humanity in the immigration issue by Greece is just outrageous” because “Turkey is a country that is very openly and very publicly using immigrants in over the past two years, trying to encourage them, to send them to the Greek border, trying to push them to Europe.

The prime minister added that Greece is rescuing “tens of thousands of people who are in danger at sea” while at the same time protecting its borders, as it should. Mr. Mitsotakis concluded by saying that we are seeing a crescendo of Turkish rhetoric against Greece, adding that “we don’t need another source of geopolitical instability in the Eastern Mediterranean when we are at war against Russia and trying to support Ukraine.”