In an unusual series of tweets, via his English language Twitter profile, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras goaded his Turkish counterpart Ahmed Davutoglu about the recent crisis between Turkey and Russia. Although the tweets have since been erased from the PM’s English account, they remain online on his Greek profile.
Over the four tweets addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister, PM Tsipras stated that “fortunately our pilots are not as mercurial as yours against the Russians. What is happening in the Aegean is outrageous and unbelievable. We’re spending billions on weapons. You – to violate our airspace, we – to intercept you. We have the most modern aerial weapons systems – and yet, on the ground, we can’t catch traffickers who drown innocent people”.
The Turkish PM only responded to the first tweet, noting that the comments were “hardly in tune with the spirit of the day” and urged PM Tsipras to “focus on our positive agenda”. In a later tweet the Greek PM noted that «we are in the same neighborhood and we have to talk honestly so we can reach solutions«.
