Greek newspaper Estia says Kalın conveyed Erdoğan’s Israel warning in Athens

Greek newspaper Estia claimed that MİT chief İbrahim Kalın held a secret meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens in early September and conveyed a message from President Erdoğan warning of a possible attack on Türkiye in coordination with Israel. The Greek government said at the time that no ultimatum had been issued.

Estia, a newspaper published in Greece, wrote that MİT chief İbrahim Kalın held a secret meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion, the prime minister’s office, during a visit to Athens in early September. According to the newspaper, Kalın first met with Themistoklis Demiris, head of the Greek National Intelligence Service (EYP), and then met with Mitsotakis at his own request.

Estia, citing senior diplomatic sources, said Kalın conveyed a personal message from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Mitsotakis. The newspaper rendered the message in a non-verbatim free translation as follows: "Be careful not to let Israel drag you into joining an attack on Türkiye from the Greek islands or Cyprus, because we will respond to it then."

Yunanistan Başbakanı Kiryakos Miçotakis (arşiv)

The newspaper argued that this amounted to an ultimatum delivered in the form of a threat and recalled that Türkiye had not sent a special envoy to Greece outside the Foreign Ministry hierarchy since 1974. Estia said the leak of the meeting to the press most likely originated on the Greek side, not the Turkish side.

After the meeting became known to the press, the Greek government said through unnamed sources that the Turkish official had adopted a reassuring stance and had conveyed neither a message nor an ultimatum. The prime minister’s office never publicly confirmed the meeting. Yeni Şafak, meanwhile, wrote at the time that Kalın had said during the meeting: "We will not accept a fait accompli in the Aegean."

Atina'daki Yunan Başbakanlık binası Maksimu Konağı (arşiv)