ATHENS – Not taking apparent bait from Turkey which has stepped up its belligerence, Greek officials instead are calmly pointing out that the international rule of law that Turkey doesn’t recognize has to be respected even as the risk of a conflict has risen at time.

While Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he still hopes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will change his mind about not talking to him, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece will keep reach out with diplomacy even though it has failed repeatedly.

He said the dispute between the countries – Turkey claims areas around Greek islands for energy drilling and demanded that troops be taken off Greek islands – can’t be solved with confrontation.

In an interview with the business newspaper that a key fundamental principle between countries “is the protection of territorial sovereignty of all states,” adding that Greece is ready for whatever comes.

“We are facing an unprecedented escalation of Turkish provocations and at the same time an occasional escalation in the field, where the neo-Ottoman revisionism is projected upon,” he was quoted as saying.

“We respond strongly, but calmly” while through a series of arguments “we deconstruct, one by one, the unfounded and non-existent allegations of the Turkish side,” he said – Turkish officials say the same about Greek arguments.