Erdogan Blanks Greek Prime Minister over US Remarks

Ankara has accused Finland and Sweden of harboring members of Kurdish militias that it says pose a risk to Turkey.

Mr Erdogan also accused Greece, a NATO ally, of harboring “terrorists” and said that allowing Athens’ readmission to the security bloc in 1980 had been a mistake.

Tensions have been growing between the Mediterranean neighbors after Mitsotakis urged a joint session of the US Congress not to drop a ban on Turkey’s membership of a purchasing program for the next generation F-35 fighter jet last week.

The Biden administration has reportedly been considering dropping the ban, imposed after Ankara purchased an S-400 air defence system from Russia in 2019.

Erdogan said this amounted to lobbying US officials against Turkey and violated an agreement “not to involve third countries” in disputes between Ankara and Athens.

The Turkish President also announced a planned summit with Mitsotakis later this year had been cancelled, pledging to “never agree to have a meeting” with the Greek leader.