Kotzias: Turkey close to crossing Greek red lines

Turkey came very close to crossing Greece's red lines in the Aegean last week, when a Turkish coast guard vessel fired shots in Greek territorial waters east of the islet of Farmakonisi, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias told Skai Television's "Istories" program Tuesday night. In a wide-ranging interview with Kathimerini's executive editor, Alexis Papachelas, Kotzias spoke also about Greece's determination to protect its sovereign interests, the Cyprus issue, the case of the eight Turkish servicemen whom the Supreme Court refused to extradite to Turkey, and NATO's operations in the Aegean.

"A year-and-a-half ago I described Turkey as a nervous power, a power, in other words, which like Germany after Bismarck in the 19th century had become nervous and did not maintain a balance with its environment," Kotzias said in the interview, which was recorded last Friday, the day of the...