Ankara on Friday criticized NATO's land command for deleting its tweet that marked Türkiye's Victory Day after a request by Greece, calling it "unacceptable."
"It is unacceptable for NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) to delete the social media post celebrating the Aug. 30 Victory Day and Turkish Armed Forces Day by giving up its will upon a selfish a spoiled attitude of another NATO member," the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement, referring to Greece.
It said the official name given to Aug. 30 by Türkiye is "Victory Day and Turkish Armed Forces Day," adding: "This is the will of our nation and cannot be changed."
The ministry said the deleting of the tweet upon the "baseless request" of a country that does not hesitate to sabotage even NATO missions by putting radar locks on Turkish fighter jets, "has discredited NATO's corporate identity and prestige."
"Whether Victory Day is written or not, the fact that we won victory in 1922 cannot be changed," it added.
LANDCOM on Tuesday tweeted a post to mark Türkiye's 100th Victory Day, which commemorates the resounding defeat of the occupying Greek armies at the hands of Turks in the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922, but deleted it after Greece lodged a complaint with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
On Thursday, however, LANDCOM tweeted a new post to congratulate Türkiye, saying: "We are thankful to have Türkiye as our host nation."
The ministry stressed that working together and the spirit of alliance are the basic principles behind NATO's strength.
"As a NATO member that has fulfilled its obligations for 70 years, our expectation is to fulfill responsibilities in a spirit of solidarity and to maintain impartiality," it added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Greece's negative statements about Türkiye cannot weaken ties between Ankara and the alliance.
Greece "has no value" in NATO, he said, adding the alliance is strong with Türkiye.
