Turkish Foreign Ministry condemns Germany’s ‘baseless’ statements against Türkiye

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned and rejected Germany’s “baseless” statements against Türkiye.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic issued a statement in response to the remarks by deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Buchner.

"It is unacceptable that Germany falls into the provocative trap of Greece and participates in the smear campaign against Türkiye," Bilgic said.

“We will continue to defend our sovereignty against attempts by Greece to violate our country's airspace and to harass our aircraft in Turkish and international airspace through disregarding our NATO alliance,” he noted.

“Greece is the only country in the world which claims more airspace than its territorial waters,” said Bilgic.

Based on this unlawful claim, it would be carelessness -- to put it mildly -- to describe flights within 6-10 miles (9-16 kilometers) of international airspace as a "violation of Greek airspace," he noted.

“If there is an actor that threatens the sovereignty, regional security and stability of its neighbor, it is Greece,” said Bilgic.

As a matter of fact, Greece is arming the islands close to Türkiye, a move which is in contradiction with the 1923 Lausanne and 1947 Paris peace treaties, according to Bilgic.

Bilgic stressed that Greece maintains its “unlawful” and “unfair stance” that it can expand its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea beyond six nautical miles unilaterally, which is against the vital interests of Türkiye and freedom of navigation.

“We expect Germany to invite Greece to act in accordance with international agreements, rather than making biased statements that do not comply with the spirit of alliance,” Bilgic added.