Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent new threatening messages to Greece yesterday during a speech to his party’s parliamentary group (AKP). He did not fail to mention the Typhoon ballistic missiles. Turkey has not had such weapons in the past, he said, adding: “Are we making these missiles ourselves? We make them in such a way that Greece falls into a panic. Newspapers make headlines, they say sleep. “The man (Turk)”, they say, “sends Typhoon from Smyrna”. It has a range of 561 km, I told my colleagues that this is not enough, it should be increased to 1000 km. Of course, when this news was broadcast, what did the Greeks start to say? “They will hit Athens.” Sit smartly, behave yourself. We have nothing to do with Athens, etc. We do not touch those who do not touch us.”

The harsh rhetoric of the Turkish leadership continues and intensifies. At the same time, provocative actions continue. Yesterday, a pair of Turkish F-16 fighter jets that entered the Athens FIR without providing a flight plan violated national airspace and flew over Panagia at 1444 and over Oinouss at 1445 at an altitude of 31,000 feet. At 14:46, another pair of Turkish F-16s flew over Panagia at 29,000 feet. Earlier, at 14:34, a pair of Turkish F-16 fighter jets flew over Oinuss at 24,000 feet. The Turkish fighters were identified and intercepted in accordance with international regulations following standard tactics.

Washington’s message to Turkey regarding a possible meeting of the Turkish President with Assad’s Syrian counterpart.

The Turkish leadership continues to create problems across the Atlantic with its choices and the mobility it develops in the wider region. US diplomatic spokesman Ned Price said yesterday that “we do not support countries that improve their relations or express their support for the restoration of the barbaric dictator Bashar al-Assad, and urged all governments to think twice before embarking on any kind of normalization. relations with the Assad regime. A mention that is clearly directed to Turkey as well, as the Turkish president appears to be open to the possibility of meeting his Syrian counterpart. Recall that the defense ministers of the two countries met in Moscow at the end of December.

Washington’s messages to Ankara take on added significance ahead of a January 18 meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his US counterpart Anthony Blinken in Washington. The visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to the American capital is of particular interest, as Ankara seeks to get approval for the purchase of new F-16 fighter jets and for the modernization of the existing ones in the Turkish armed forces.