Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Greece that it will pay a "heavy price" if it continues to violate his country's airspace and "harass" its planes over the Aegean Sea.
Addressing a crowd in the Black Sea region, Erdogan said Saturday, telling Athens to take a look at history, threatening, "If you go ahead, you will pay a heavy price."
The Turkish president was speaking during his participation in the "TEKNOFEST" exhibition of the Black Sea, and the Aviation, Space and Technology Festival.
"We have one word for Greece: Do not forget about Izmir," Erdogan added, referring to the city on the Aegean Sea, which the Greeks call "Smyrna."
Greece occupied Izmir, after it was annexed by a treaty at the end of World War I, which Turkey has never recognized.
Then the Turks regained this city in 1922, in a battle considered pivotal in modern Turkish history.
"hostile" action
Last Sunday, Ankara announced that satellite planes, which were on a mission in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, were targeted by Greece with the S-300 air defense system, denouncing this "hostile act."
Athens accuses Turkish planes of flying over Greek islands close to the common border, and the dispute between these two enemy countries is reflected through the conduct of a large number of patrols.
The Turkish president returned to saying, addressing Greece, "Your occupation of the islands (the Aegean Sea close to Turkey) does not require us. When the moment comes, we will do what is necessary. We may arrive suddenly during the night."
Ankara denounces the presence of troops on these islands, and considers this a violation of peace treaties signed after the First and Second World Wars.
Last June, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that his country would challenge Greece's sovereignty over these islands if the latter continued to send troops to them.