Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeated his recent threats to NATO’s neighbor and partner, Greece. “Whatever country bothers us, whatever country attacks us, our reaction will always be to say: without a doubt, we could arrive in the middle of the night,” the 68-year-old said in Prague on Thursday. There, Turkey participated in the founding summit of the European Political Community. The 27 EU countries want to connect with 17 other European countries.
Erdoğan issued a similar warning in early September. At the time, he was referring to the alleged alignment of a Greek air defense system with Turkish fighter jets. He also accused Athens of militarizing the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean. Athens has denied Ankara’s allegations, citing, among other things, its right to self-defense. Relations between the two NATO partners have long been strained.
In the past, the Turkish president used to use the phrase that someone could suddenly come at night in relation to military operations – for example, in Syria or Iraq.