OPINION

Loaded rhetoric

Even if we were to accept that the only true purpose of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s constant references to the Ottoman past, blood ties with populations outside of Turkey’s boundaries and the Treaty of Lausanne is to create an atmosphere of nationalist fervor inside the country, we cannot ignore that they are nevertheless very dangerous statements.

The more such a climate is encouraged, the more this particular regime could at some point decide to use it to stir up trouble abroad and particularly if developments on Turkey’s eastern border with the Kurds are judged by Ankara as being a threat.

Athens, for its part, has a duty to watch developments on the other side of the Aegean Sea extremely closely. It must react to each fresh incident in a calm and collected manner while also making sure to keep communicating with international decision-making centers and agencies just how dangerous to regional stability Erdogan’s rhetoric can potentially become.

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