The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is doing everything he can to distract attention from the domestic political crisis in Turkey by means of a strong self-promotion in the Mediterranean. On Sunday the president described the political leaders in Athens as "greedy for money" and "incompetent" and threatened: "When it comes to fighting we are ready to become martyrs. The question is: are those who are rebelling against us in the Mediterranean ready to make the same sacrifices? "Do the French and Greek people know the price they will have to pay for their greedy and incompetent leaders?

In 1995, the Turkish parliament had designated an extension of Greek territorial waters in the Aegean as a "reason for war". This would allow war to be declared immediately without further parliamentary approval.

Further threat of war because of possible extension of territorial waters

Already on Saturday Turkey had described a possible extension of the Greek territorial waters as a "reason for war". This was declared by Vice President Fuat Oktay. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also sounded the same horn, referring to his country's parliamentary decision of 1995.

Athens described the statements as "megalomania" and politics of the "19th century". Greece plans to extend the territory around the Greek islands in the Ionian Sea, i.e. the side facing Italy, from six to twelve kilometers.

On Friday, the EU foreign ministers had called on Turkey to engage in dialogue with Greece. Otherwise, the EU special summit, which will take place on September 24, could discuss sanctions against Turkey. Consistent action against the Erdoğan regime failed above all because of Germany's blockade attitude as Turkey's closest ally in the EU.