Erdogan: Greece challenged NATO, allies by intercepting Turkish jets

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out against Greece over the harassment of Turkish jets carrying out reconnaissance missions over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

"Greece has challenged NATO and its allies by increasing its hostile attitude, which started with harassing our airspace and aircraft and escalated to the level of S-300 radar lockdown," Erdogan said on Tuesday.

He spoke ahead of a celebration concert for the centenary of Türkiye's Victory Day at the presidential complex in Ankara.

The Turkish leader added: "Greece can neither match up to us nor become an equal for us politically, economically or militarily."

Citing Greece's latest actions, Erdogan said: "We are curious about the US response to Greek air defence system's harassment of Turkish jets."

READ MORE: Türkiye: Greek air defence system's harassment of Turkish jets unacceptable

Türkiye, a NATO member, has often criticised the military alliance, including the US, for not supporting it enough on its territorial dispute with Greece on islands in the Aegean and the issue of exploration of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Erdogan further said the Greek move to establish bases on the Aegean islands does not hold any importance for Türkiye.

Referring to the US move to waive sanctions on India despite its purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems, Erdogan said the issue is not the compatibility of Russian and US military equipment. "It is Türkiye in particular," he said.

Stressing that Türkiye is able to produce every product that it is denied access to, Erdogan criticised the US for blocking the sale of F-35 jets to Ankara over the purchase of S-400 defence systems.

READ MORE: US, Greece disagree on extent of Greek airspace