Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "continuous hostile remarks against Greece and the Greek people raise serious concerns and fully contradict much-needed de-escalation efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean," European Commission spokesperson for external affairs Peter Stano on Monday.
In a statement headlined "Turkey: Statement by the Spokesperson on remarks by the President against Greece," Stano noted that "differences need to be settled peacefully, in full respect of international law and of countries’ vital and legitimate interests," while "threats and aggressive rhetoric are unacceptable and need to stop."
"One of the goals of the Czech Republic is to foster the EU-Türkiye dialogue," the Czech foreign ministry posted on Monday on Twitter.
"Unacceptable threatening of EU member states, like the one addressed to Greece in President Erdogan's recent public speech, is extremely unhelpful in this regard," it added.
Stano's full statement reads as follows:
"The continuous hostile remarks by the political leadership of Turkey against Greece and the Greek people raise serious concerns and fully contradict much needed de-escalation efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean called for in the Conclusions of the European Council from March and June 2021 and June 2022.
"The European Union has repeatedly stressed that differences need to be settled peacefully, in full respect of international law and of countries’ vital and legitimate interests. Threats and aggressive rhetoric are unacceptable and need to stop. Engagement in a meaningful and sincere dialogue is indispensable for defusing tensions, promoting mutual understanding and developing good neighbourly relations.
"The EU reiterates its expectation from Turkey to seriously work on de-escalating tensions in a sustainable way in the interest of regional stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all EU Member States."