Turkey's made a drone deal with Albanians that drew the ire of Athens; since the two are having their disagreements.
Turkey, Albania Drone Deal
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has said he was not delighted by the deal struck with Albania, an EU member state.
The arrangement, approved last week between Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and a Turkish drones company, has been commended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reported Express UK.
Albania bought three Bayraktar drones from such a Turkish firm, which have been widely utilized in the Ukraine dispute.
Giving an opinion on the contract at a joint press conference held in Tirana with his Albanian counterpart, Olta Xhacka, Mr. Dendias warned of reactionary forces that would like to go back to other points in time and preconceptions and impact the Western Balkans.
According to him, the primary goal is not only collaboration but also establishing areas of effect irreconcilable with the European acquis, neither from a European standpoint nor with European values.
The Turkish CEO announced the conclusion of an export agreement with Albania, a nation with which we have walked for centuries and also have deep historical, ethnic, and humanist ties, noted Euractiv.
Turkey, Greece Tensions Continue To Rise
Ankara and Greece are butting heads over several issues, such as territorial disputes in the Mediterranean Sea and exploratory energy privileges inside the eastern Mediterranean. They had already been on the verge of war three times in the previous half-century.
In recent weeks, Istanbul has ramped up its rhetoric with Turkish government officials asserting that potential misconduct of treaty obligations by Athens consider the independence of some Greek islands into the discussion.
Earlier this month, the Greek government lashed out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for threatening Athens with missile systems.
Dendias, when coming to Brussels for a European Union foreign affairs meeting, had things to say. He stated how inappropriate and widely despised it is for an allied country, a sovereign nation, to intimidate Greece with such a missile strike, citing Fox News.
He added that such a North Korean approach should not be accepted into NATO. Giving a speech during one town hall meeting with young individuals in the northern Turkish city of Samsun some few days prior, Erdogan replied that Turkey would have started to make its very own short-range ballistic missiles termed Tayfun, and that, he said, is terrifying the Greeks.
The Turkish leader added that the country would buy equipment from the United States and other countries to equip the islands. Ankara must not keep quiet. Erdogan also threatened to land Turkish troops in Greece "unexpectedly one evening," but a missile attack threat is sporadic.
Giannis Oikonomou, a spokesman for the Turkish leader, responded via a media briefing in Athens, saying that the Turk leader knows they cannot be terrorized or intimidated. He added that Turkey's president "thinks that as many times as he repeats the irrational and unjust, he can make it rational and just. That is not going to happen."
Oikonomou indicated that Athens is firm in its perseverance to safeguard international law, its sovereign rights, and its right to self-determination.