Turkey will not escalate tensions with Greece but at the same time will not tolerate any violations from Athens, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Wednesday.
"Greece has recently increased the frequency of its border violations. As Turkey, we do not want to be the party to escalate the tension, but we also will not bow to any fait accompli," Isik said, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News newspaper.
He added that Greece and Turkey should resolve their issues through dialogue without letting tensions intensify, Sputnik reported.
The relations between the two countries have been improving over the past few years, with cooperation on the issues of illegal immigration and the reunification of Cyprus. But recent Greece’s refusal to extradite the participants of the 2016 Turkish military coup attempt and Turkey’s reciprocal pledge to withdraw from the bilateral treaty on readmission of undocumented migrants started to strain the countries’ relations.