Mitarakis’ announcement comes at a time when tensions between Athens and Ankara have been running high. Recently, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly cut ties with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The Turks are angry about the close cooperation between the Greeks and the United States, which have military bases in Greece. Mitsotakis warned Americans not to sell fighter jets to Turkey in a speech to the US parliament. In addition, the Greek government has complained to the United Nations that Turkey is questioning Greek rule over a number of islands off the Turkish coast. This includes the popular holiday islands of Samos and Rhodes. Ankara and Athens are also arguing about natural gas reserves in the seabed.
Athens fears Erdogan may now want to send migrants to Greece to put pressure on them. The Turkish president already did this in 2020, when he opened the border between Greece and the Evros River. That led to thousands of people crossing the border there.
