Europe 1 with AFP 4:12 p.m., September 3, 2022
Last Sunday, Turkey claimed that Turkish planes had been targeted by a Greek air defense system in the Aegean Sea.
A week later, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that Greece will pay a "high price" if it continues to violate Ankara's airspace.
Greece will pay a "high price" if it continues to violate Turkish airspace and "harass" Turkish planes in the Aegean Sea, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Saturday.
Last Sunday, Ankara said that Turkish planes on mission in this area had been targeted by Greece's S-300 air defense system, and denounced a "hostile action".
"Hey Greece, look at history. If you continue, you will pay a high price," the Turkish president told a meeting in the Black Sea region.
"Don't Forget Izmir"
"We have a word for Greece: don't forget Izmir", referring to the city on the Aegean Sea that the Greeks call Smyrna.
The occupation of Smyrna by Greece, to whom it was awarded by a late World War I treaty that Turkey never recognized, had ended when the Turks retook it in 1922. "Your Occupation islands (in the Aegean Sea close to Turkey, editor's note) does not bind us in any way. When the time comes, we will do what is necessary. We can suddenly arrive at night, "he said, using a formula often used when he was talking about launching an operation in Syria.
>> READ ALSO -
Does Greece turn back migrants trying to reach its shores?
Athens accuses Turkish planes of flying over Greek islands close to the Turkish border, and the dispute between the two enemy neighbors results in frequent patrols.
Ankara for its part denounces a presence of troops on these islands contrary, according to Turkey, to the peace treaties signed after the First and Second World Wars.
In June, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that if Athens continued to send troops to the islands, Ankara would challenge Greek sovereignty.