Mitsotakis to Erdoğan: 'If we had 85 percent inflation, I'd be trying to change the subject too'

* Photo: Kiryakos Mitsotakis/Twitter

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis responded the statements from the government of Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Greece during the Berlin Process Summit held yesterday (November 3), bringing together leaders of six Western Balkan countries and Germany, as well as EU's top officials.

Greece-based newspaper Kathimerini reported that Mitsotakis referred to the consumer price inflation in Türkiye when evaluating "Ankara's increasingly aggressive stance towards Greece."

Mitsotakis said that the government of Türkiye "was seeking to deflect attention away from the country's economic spiral."

"If we had 85 percent inflation, I'd be trying to change the subject too" said Mitsotakis according to the report and added "if I responded to the statements of Turkish officials every time they provoked Greece, I don't think I'd be doing anything else."

"As I have said before, we will not enter a futile verbal exchange. Greece's positions are crystal clear. They have been presented many times and I have nothing more to add to that," Mitsotakis said.

Inflation in Türkiye and Greece

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the country's statistical authority, and the Inflation Research Group (ENAG), an independent group of economists, released yesterday their calculations of the inflation rate in October.

According to the TurkStat figures, the monthly inflation rate was 3.54 percent and the annual rate was 85.51 percent last month.

The ENAG said the monthly increase in inflation was 7.18 percent and the annual inflation was 185.34 percent.

TurkStat did not disclose the baskets of goods and services, as it hasn't for months.

On the other hand, the Greek Statistical Institute (ELSTAT) announced that the monthly inflation rate was 2,9 percent and the annual rate was 12 percent in September, as reported by the Greek Reporter on October 10. The annual inflation rate was 11.6 percent in July and 11.4 percent in August.

The annual inflation in Greece last year in October 2021 was 8,7 percent. (SD/PE)