Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the Greek capital Athens could be hit by Turkish ballistic missiles.
“Greece is afraid of our missiles. They say Typhoon will hit Athens. It will hit if you don’t calm down,” the Greek newspaper Kathimerini quoted the Turkish leader as saying last Sunday.
As previously reported, on October 18, Ankara tested a new Typhoon medium-range ballistic missile of its own design. The missile was launched from a mobile installation on the coast near the city of Rize, flew over 560 kilometers over the Black Sea and hit a target near the city of Sinop. Thus, the Typhoon, created by the Turkish company Roketsan, became the longest-range weapon in Turkey, which previously had Bora-1 systems capable of reaching targets at a distance of up to 250 kilometers.
Athens is located about 300 kilometers from mainland Turkey.
Relations between Turkey and Greece – two NATO member countries – have recently been characterized by increased confrontation. There are sharp territorial disputes between Ankara and Athens regarding the maritime borders of the islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, as well as their status. In particular, Turkey accuses Greece of violating the Lausanne Treaty and demands the immediate demilitarization of a number of Greek islands, including Kastelorizo. Greece categorically denies all accusations and insists on its readiness to defend its sovereignty by all means.
Earlier, Erdogan had already threatened Greece with the fact that in case of further provocations from Athens, “we will come suddenly at night.” Greek analysts associate such aggressive rhetoric with the upcoming presidential elections in Turkey next year, while not excluding the possibility of a direct military conflict between the two countries.
Source : rg.ru