Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis on Wednesday referred to “concerns” over the prospect of an “incident” in the Aegean involving the militaries of Greece and Turkey.
Speaking from New York City and in response to a press question, Apostolakis said official Turkey every so often announces something new, which “is not backed up by anything, and on a daily basis demonstrates how aggressive it is.”
He spoke after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras himself on Monday said a couple of Turkish warplanes attempted to harass a helicopter taking him to an eastern Aegean border isle.
Apostolakis was a career naval officer who reached the highest military rank in Greece under the current Tsipras government, armed forces general staff chief, before trading his uniform for a minster’s suit and tie – similar to his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar.
He succeeded controversial former government coalition partner Panos Kammenos earlier in the year.
