Erdogan defends minister after spat with Greece

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday robustly defended his foreign minister after he traded barbs in an unusually public spat with his Greek counterpart.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’s visit to Ankara on Thursday ended in disarray when he and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu used their closing statements to accuse each other of discrimination and violating international laws. "Turkey has violated international laws and conventions in the Aegean Sea and in the eastern Mediterranean," Dendias told Cavusoglu at one point.

"Turkey has carried out 400 (military) flights over Greek soil," said Dendias. "If you heavily accuse my country and people before the press, I have to be in a position to respond to that," Cavusoglu retorted.