Hulusi Akar

The two ministers agreed to keep open a channel of communication between them in order to eventually restore a dialogue based on good neighbourly relations between NATO allies.

'There are the exploratory talks that we would like to complete. There are confidence-building-measures and meetings in the NATO framework,” Turkey's defence minister said.

That effectively means a visit by a Greek official to islands the sovereignty of which Ankara disputes could lead to a Greek and Turkish Air Force clash.

“Greece, with provocations and actions during military exercises is attempting to establish a de facto situation. We shall not allow it,” Akar said.

The “Blue Homeland” theory is an integral part of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s expansionist, neo-Ottoman vision, developed by his former PM and foreign minister Mehmet Davutoglu.

Even if the Turkish foreign minister disputes the sovereignty of “militarised” Greek Aegean islands, and his Greek counterpart describes the Turkish government’s stance as the “epitome of irrationality, bilateral exploratory talks continue.

While Ankara has systematically harassed and blocked the Nautical Geo research vessel, which is to conduct research in the Mediterranean to plot the course of the EastMed pipeline, occupying a large swathe of Cyprus’ EEZ, Akar claimed that the ship is violating Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction.

Russia supports Assad and accused Turkey of flouting agreements it made with Moscow, aggravating the situation in Idlib, and failing to neutralise militants there,

The absence of a Greek-Turkish dialogue is a bad policy that is accompanied by fatalism and introversion, which could prove exceptionally harmful for Greek interests.

 Setting aside Ankara’s bellicose behaviour and territorial claims in Cyprus’ maritime zone and the Aegean, Akar maintained that Turkey supports 'good neighbourly relations, international law and mutual respect'.

The US, Russia, France, Cyprus, Israel, and most recently Italy have all underlined that the Turkey-Libya MOU is a serious threat to regional stabilit,

Akar was speaking at a nationalist commemoration of the 1964 bombing of Tylliria by the Turkish Air Force which used napalm against the civilian population in an area where it sought to establish a breakaway Turkish-Cypriot enclave

“Let them not test our power because there will be a heavy price to pay,” Akar declared today in Turkish-occupied Cyprus.

'We seek peace and security but under no circumstances will we back off from defending our sovereign rights. We wish to avoid tensions,' the Greek defence minister said after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar at a Nato meeting.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said linking the S-400s purchase with that of the F-35s is “another hurdle” and noted that nine NATO partners have a stake.

There will be a meeting of the Greek, Turkish technical teams at which actions in the framework of the confidence-building measures will be discussed.

Apostolakis said that the two countries’ lonstanding defence cooperation is constantly increasing, and that from now on it will be much more effective.

 Turkey has often made clear that its perceived interests include the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of its two neighbours.

US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt averted a hot clash near Kastelorizi between a Greek frigate and the Turkish seismic research vessel Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, military analyst Thanasis Drougos revealed/

The war of words between the two countries began when outgoing foreign minister Nikos Kotzias announced that Greece will issue a presidential decree exercising its right under international law to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea.