Read: Greece’s letters to EU, NATO and UN
Kathimerini has obtained the full letters sent by Greece to the EU, NATO and the UN in its efforts to counter Turkey’s growing aggression.
Attached are Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’ letters to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, both dated September 5, as well as the letter sent by Greece’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maria Theofili to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on September 6.
The letters cite a number of public remarks made recently by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which are seen as a direct threat to Greece’s territorial integrity.
“These public statements by the Turkish president speak for themselves; they are unprovoked, unacceptable and an insult against Greece and the Greek people,” Greece’s letters say.
“Their openly threatening nature and tone are more than obvious, thus dispelling any doubts as to their intended purpose, as well as any allegations that they are only meant for domestic reasons in view of the next elections in the country,” they say.
Athens also points out that Ankara’s growingly aggressive rhetoric is coupled with a sharp rise of incidents of violation of Greek sovereignty in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
“For the past few years, [Turkey] has been building up its revisionist agenda through a propaganda putting in question the entire territorial status quo as established by Treaties and thus putting at risk regional security and stability,” it is said in the letters.
“Unless seen in its true dimensions and properly dealt with by the international community, this Turkish overall attitude risks destabilising our wider region and causing consequences of which the gravity is hard to assess.”
