Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Greece is trying to present its contradictions with the Turkish side as Ankara's problems with NATO, the United States and the European Union, TRT Haber TV channel reported.

Akar stated that Greece stopped participating in meetings on consultative issues, confidence-building measures and NATO procedures and is trying to prevent them. According to the minister, everyone has now understood the "tricks of the Greek side" and will be more careful in this regard in the future.

The head of Turkey's Defense Ministry added that Greece faced different kinds of scandals: a wiretapping scandal, an immigration scandal and a corruption scandal. According to Akar, among other things, Greece has failures in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Greek public is aware of them. In order to cover all this, they are trying to increase tensions with Turkey, Akar said.

The minister also stressed that Turkey does not threaten anyone, it is a reliable and strong ally.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that Ankara would not allow Greece to extend its territorial waters in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas by 1 mile, let alone the 12 miles claimed by Athens.