Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced, on Tuesday, that his country will take the necessary steps if the Greek threats against it continue, stressing that "patience has limits."
This came during a joint press conference with the President of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Shafik Jafarovic, and members of the Council, Zeljko Komsic, and Milorad Dodik, in Sarajevo.
Erdogan responded to a journalist's question about whether Turkey was actually considering launching a military operation against Greece, against the background of his statement, in which he said, "We can come suddenly one night," saying that what he talked about in this context "is not a dream."
"There are islands in their hands (Greece) on which there are military bases, and if illegal threats against us from them continue, patience has limits," the Turkish president added.
He pointed out that Turkey will take the necessary measures against these threats "when the time comes."
He also stressed that the steps taken by Greece, such as tracking Turkish fighters with radar, "do not bode well."
Erdogan referred to the Greek S-300 air defense systems, which Ankara says are blocking Turkish planes over the Aegean Sea, a charge that Athens denies.
The Turkish Defense Ministry had said that Turkish planes flying in international airspace were "harassed" by the Greek defense system on the island of Crete.
Messages
In a parallel context, Turkey sent letters to European countries and international organizations with the aim of clarifying its position and viewpoint on resolving the existing problems with Greece in the Aegean Sea.
For this purpose, letters have been sent to the 25 member states of the European Union, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, the permanent members of the United Nations, its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the Secretary-General of NATO.
Turkish diplomatic sources revealed that the messages sent by Turkey in early September bear the signature of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and shed light on Greece's practices, which Ankara considers "illegal" and describes Athens' demands as "extremist."
According to the same sources, the messages expressed the existence of a group of closely related and interrelated problems in the Aegean Sea, which concern the territorial waters and national airspace, the demarcation of the continental shelf and territorial waters, and the violation of the non-military status of the eastern Aegean islands, islands and rock masses that have not been completed. Transfer of its sovereignty to Greece under valid international treaties.
Turkey says Greece is illegally arming its islands in the eastern Aegean, which is prohibited by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris.