Turkey must lift a decades-old war threat against Greece if it wants Athens to consent to Ankara accessing EU defense funds, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday, according to Greek media.
Speaking to Skai radio, Mitsotakis said that “if Turkey wants access to European defense financing tools, the legitimate concerns of both Greece and Cyprus should be taken into account.” The Greek prime minister was referring to projects such as Security Access for Europe (SAFE), the EU’s new flagship arms-buying fund.
In 1995 the Turkish Parliament declared a “casus belli,” or cause for war, if Greece unilaterally expanded its territorial waters beyond six miles in the Aegean Sea.
Greece and Turkey, both NATO allies, have been at odds for decades over a number of issues, ranging from Turkey’s invasion of northern Cyprus to their maritime boundaries and airspace.
“It has been 30 years since the Turkish National Assembly voted on the infamous casus belli. I think that 30 years later, the time has come to directly ask our Turkish friends to take it off the table,” Mitsotakis said.
He added that he would soon convey the message to Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, citing improved bilateral relations.
After years of tension over migration, energy rights and maritime borders in the Aegean Sea, NATO allies Greece and Turkey restarted high-level talks in December 2023, when President Erdoğan paid his first to Athens since 2017 and signed a declaration of friendship between the two historic rivals.
Mitsotakis reciprocated Erdoğan’s visit in May 2024.
Asked about Greece trying to keep Turkey away from EU defense projects, a Turkish Defense Ministry source told Reuters that any attempts to disregard Turkey’s importance for European security were bound to fail.
“Carrying bilateral disputes to multilateral platforms and putting forth an approach aimed at excluding our country is both a step that is not taken with good intentions and not a smart one,” the source said.
Greece and Turkey have been exploring whether they can start talks to demarcate their maritime zones. The Greek prime minister said that a high-level meeting between the two countries would take place in the coming months.