(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The provocative actions of Greece, including violation of
Türkiye's airspace and territorial waters, are unacceptable,
according to a statement released after the National Security
Council (MGK) meeting said Thursday, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah .
Noting that Greece has been ignoring international law and has
taken a stance against neighborly relations and as NATO partners,
the MGK statement also said Türkiye has urged Greek authorities to
immediately end its violent and inhumane practices against
irregular migrants.
Turkey and Greece have long-standing sea and air boundary
disputes that intensified with moves to explore potential undersea
natural gas reserves.
The disagreement has resulted in near-daily air force patrols
and interception missions, mostly in disputed airspace around Greek
islands that are near Türkiye's coastline.
Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor
of resolving all outstanding problems in the region through
international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and
negotiation. Türkiye has also criticized the European Union's
stance on the Eastern Mediterranean conflict, calling on the bloc
to adopt a fair attitude regarding the dispute and abandon its
preferential treatment of Greece under the pretext of EU
solidarity.
Meanwhile, Ankara urged NATO allies' support in the fight
against terrorist groups, including the PKK, its offshoots and the
Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Turkish leaders criticize NATO members as they say they have
fought relentlessly against terrorist organizations in many parts
of the world, but unfortunately, they have not shown the same
resolve in taking on the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing,
the YPG.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S.,
Turkey and the European Union, and Washington's support for its
Syrian affiliate has been a major strain on bilateral relations
with Ankara.
The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG in northeastern Syria
to fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand,
Turkey strongly opposed the YPG's presence in northern Syria.
Ankara has long objected to the U.S.' support for the YPG, a group
that poses a threat to Turkey and that terrorizes local people,
destroying their homes and forcing them to flee.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided
military training and given truckloads of military support to the
YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Underlining that
one cannot support a terrorist group to defeat another, Turkey
conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of
which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists
from the region.
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