Turkey has no time to negotiate with Greece: Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country has no time to hold talks with Greece in the light of issues his country is facing.
The leaders of western countries offered Ankara to hold meetings with Greece during the NATO summit in Berlin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday. He rejected the proposals because Turkey "does not have time" for talks.
"During my meetings [in Madrid], almost all presidents and prime ministers have put forward an approach like: 'we will mediate. Let's have a meeting before the end of this year.' And we told them 'sorry, we do not have time for this meeting right now'," Erdogan told reporters.
Erdogan also accused Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of not having good intentions.
Both countries have been trying to warm up to each other for years in light of complicated bilateral relations. Athens and Ankara were on the brink of an armed conflict three times in the summer of 2020.
Greece had to mobilize its military after Turkey kicked off seismic exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, the area Athens considers its exclusive economic zone.
Despite the tensions and Erdogan rebuffing mediation requests, the president said his country had no plans to start a war with Greece, though he accompanied his assertions with accusations that Athens was violating Turkey's airspace.
"We do not have such a problem to start a war with Greece. But Greece does not stick to its words. They violated the airspace 147 times," Erdogan told reporters, adding that Ankara did not have that option in mind "yet".