Turkish President Erdogan’s on-flight statements about his visit to Athens

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the press during his return flight from Athens that he proposed to Greece the extension, as he said, of the existing collaboration in the energy sector and nuclear energy.

Erdogan – who met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Thursday for the 5th High Level Cooperation Council between Greece and Türkiye – clarified: “For example, we could provide Greece with energy from our nuclear station that will be built in Sinop,” on the coast of the Black Sea.

The Turkish leader also referred to what he called ‘dogfights’ over the Aegean, stating, “Let us turn this page, let us finish with this issue.” He asserted that Greece’s spending for defense is very different from that of Türkiye, while some countries – especially the European Union members and the United States – provided significant support.

“Greece does not have defense industry production like ours. In this sector, we have reached a point where we can produce at a level that meets our needs to a great degree. For this reason, Türkiye’s expenditures for armaments are incomparably lower than those of Greece,” he noted, while underlining that for the East Mediterranean, tensions affect adversely Türkiye and Greece, “the most important countries in the region”.

For this reason, the Turkish president said, Greece and Türkiye should try and see what the two countries can produce from now on, what opportunities they can create, to benefit their countries. “I must say that Mr. Mitsotakis has a positive approach to this issue,” Erdogan underlined.

The Turkish president referred again to a fair distribution of the region’s natural resources. “We are not scheming against anyone’s rights, but we are strongly committed to not allowing anyone to violate our rights.” Erdogan said he believed that a comprehensive and just distribution is feasible in the East Mediterranean, while he reiterated his proposal for an international conference on such an issue.