Greek FM expresses concern over deteriorating relations with Turkey

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Thursday expressed concern for the continued deterioration of relations with Turkey, dating Ankara’s slide into aggressive posturing to the fall of 2019 when it signed a maritime border agreement with Libya.

Speaking to parliamentary correspondents in Athens, Dendias, who is heading to New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly, said that since then the Turkish leadership has “made choices that leave no scope for negotiation.”

These choices are leading Turkey down a “dangerous path” and, he indicated, painting it into a corner. “That is cause for concern,” Dendias said, adding that the fact both Greece and Turkey are heading into elections in 2023 is also “not good.”

On a positive note, Turkey’s escalation towards Greece has also prompted a “level of international reaction that is constant,” Dendias said, noting, in particular, the recent defense agreements signed by Greece with its allies.