Greece is a strong country, which follows a foreign policy that is based on principles and has steadfast and known positions, which are entirely unyielding on issues of national sovereignty, government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou stressed on Wednesday in an interview on SKAI television, concerning Turkish provocations.

Pointing to a steadily escalating aggressiveness in Turkish rhetoric, Oikonomou said that Turkish officials appeared almost to be competing with each other as to who will make the most insulting, historically unfounded and groundless remarks and claims against Greece. The only possible response for Greece, he added, was to deal with this calmly, realistically and effectively and to do whatever was necessary in order to ensure its readiness to defend the country’s national sovereignty and sovereign rights at any and all times.

“We deal with this very realistically and effectively, and the more effectively we deal with it, the more this infuriates the other side,” Oikonomou said, noting that recent trips by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the United States, his contacts with Greece’s EU partners at European summits had incensed Turkey even more, while leading to successive and very clear condemnations of Turkey from the US, Germany, France and the EU.

“In the face of this continued provocativeness we have only one path. First of all, we must do whatever is required in order to be ready, at any time, to defend our sovereign rights and our national sovereignty. Everyone knows this…those who shout hardest, know this. They have tried it at times in the past. They know the country has the ability – without provoking anyone – to defend its sovereign rights and national sovereignty,” he said.

He emphasised that every responsible government had an obligation to be alert and ready to react at all times, whether this concerned a response to Turkish provocativeness on a diplomatic level or vigilance and readiness to respond appropriately in the field.

Oikonomou said Turkey was to blame for greatly restricting channels of communication, which exist and must exist at all times, while noting the prime minister’s warning to Greece’s neighbour “to not test a transition of provocativeness to the field, because this would be something that leads absolutely nowhere and can have absolutely no meaning.”

Regarding the fuel price crisis, the spokesperson said that announcements will be made within the month on measures to ease the burden on households, while he also referred to the elections, repeating that these will be held in 2023.