Turkey threatens Greece amid Mediterranean dispute

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened Greece to enter talks over escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean or face consequences, Deutsche Welle reports.

"They will understand that Turkey has the political, economic and military strength to tear up immoral maps and documents," he said at a hospital's opening ceremony in Istanbul.

Erdogan was referring to disputed areas claimed by Greece and Cyprus as their exclusive economic maritime zones. All sides have deployed naval and air forces to defend their competing claims in the region.

"They're either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences," Erdogan said, adding: "As Turkey and the Turkish people, we are ready for every possibility and every consequence."

Turkish newspaper the Cumhuriyet reported that 40 tanks were being transported from the Syrian border to the northwest Turkish city of Edirne and carried photographs of armored vehicles loaded on trucks.

Erdogan's warning came after NATO said military officers from Greece and Turkey had begun technical talks to avoid armed conflict or accidents.

Ankara is prospecting the disputed territory for energy reserves but Greece claims the area to be its own continental shelf.