Greek FM rebukes slow, unsatisfying EU response to Turkey

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that the European Union’s existing sanctions against Turkey were not enough, and the process for tougher punitive measures was going too slow, the Greek City Times reported on Sunday.

“I wonder how this union can tolerate the threat of war against its members, such as the threat of Turkey against Greece for decades with casus belli,” Dendias told Greek newspaper Parapolitika in an interview, according to GCT.

Athens has called on fellow EU member-states to impose tough sanctions on Turkey for its hydrocarbon exploration activities in disputed waters of the eastern Mediterranean, but EU leaders postponed discussions on punitive measures until March 2021.

Longstanding political and military tensions between NATO allies Turkey and Greece escalated in August when Turkey sent a seismic research vessel to map out possible oil and gas drilling prospects in internationally recognised territory belonging to Cyprus and Greece.

Dendias rebuked speculation by European officials that an arms embargo on Turkey would undermine unity within NATO.

“How do they justify their stance, at a time when the pillar of the North Atlantic Alliance? The U.S. has imposed sanctions against Turkey,” Dendias said. The United States announced it imposed unrelated sanctions on Turkey’s military procurement agency and its officials a few days following the EU summit.

Dendias said that Athens will continue with patience and perseverance.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu responded to Dendias’ remarks on Twitter, telling him to “stop asking for help from others and injuring the Greek people’s dignity”.

Çavuşoğlu said that 2021 may be the year when Turkey and Greece resolve their disputes equitably by sincere direct talks.

Dendias replied to Çavuşoğlu’s comments via his Twitter account on Monday.

“There is one thing Mevlüt you forgot to mention yet again: it’s international law. The only basis for a constructive dialogue about our difference, my dear friend. Happy 2021,” he said.