Unfortunately, the escalation of Turkey’s provocations toward Greece on all levels – from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s enraged outbursts against Athens to Ankara’s effort on the ground to once again exploit the issue of migration – should come as no surprise.

Ankara is laying the groundwork for a feverish and tense summer in Greek-Turkish relations.

Precisely because extreme provocations have become routine for Erdogan, as a means for disorienting the public from a host of domestic problems, Greece should not fall into the trap of mutual escalation.

Erdogan’s invective and flights of Turkish war planes over inhabited Greek islands with the aim of maintaining tensions fully confirm what Greece has told its European and American allies regarding Turkey’s violations and its revisionist geopolitical posture.

By turning his country into a regional troublemaker, he offers Greece the opportunity to highlight the fact that it is fully capable of playing a role as a force for stability in the broader region of the Southeastern Mediterranean.

That is why Greece must retain a calm stance and coordinate its response to provocations with its international partners.

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