Leader of Turkey’s far-right political group the Nationalist Movement Party (NHP) claimed on Tuesday that U.S. military bases located on Greece pose a direct ”threat” to Turkish security.
”Greece is playing with fire,” NHP leader Devlet Bahceli said in an address to Turkey’s parliament, according to a local news outlet. Bahceli claimed US bases pose ”a threat to our security” and said ”America is using the Greek side as a pawn.”
The U.S. and Greece signed a five-year bilateral military agreement earlier this month in a move to shore up its defenses as Europe faces its greatest security threat since World War II following Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. The agreement will grant the U.S. access to three bases on mainland Greece along with its long-standing naval presence on the island of Crete.
While Washington and Athens have championed the move, the Turkish political leader accused the U.S. of using already rocky Greek-Turkish relations to try and ”push [Ankara] into a hot conflict environment.” Läs artikel