War cries from Erdogan – The accident worries Athens
Threats, warnings and “war cries”. Turkey’s rhetoric is on a path of escalation, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan setting the tone and his ministers following suit. “We may come suddenly one night”, with which the Turkish president threatened Athens, is not only adopted by his government but also by the opposition.
The Turkish opposition parties are even trying to present themselves with even more nationalist positions, calling on Erdogan and his government not to limit themselves to words, but to have the “courage” and “courage” to move with actions towards Greece.
The Turkish political scene is adopting the anti-Greek rhetoric, despite the fact that opinion polls show that the people of the country do not consider the Greeks as enemies and do not adopt the extremes that the politicians try to impose on the agenda.
Worry
And despite the fact that the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – in theory – does not allow disagreements in NATO, and leaves no scope for questioning territorial sovereignty and sovereign rights, Ankara does not hesitate to test the limits of both the North Atlantic Alliance and the West . . And it certainly creates concern in Athens.
Even if a direct threat against Greece, beyond rhetoric, on the ground, could put Turkey in a difficult position, no one can now rule out an accident.
The questions
And the question that now arises is how armored is Greece?
What do its alliances ensure?
How effective can the country’s armament program prove to be and finally how strong and in what direction are the alliances that were “forged” with contracts worth millions?
How much is Turkey being strengthened through the role it is trying to play in the war in Ukraine and how much is it needed for the West?
Athens is worried
As it was seen from the positions of the representatives of the parties at the Forum of the Economic Post in the context of the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki, all the political forces in Greece recognize the risk of an “accident” as Turkey estimates that it will continue to escalate the tension with the elections scheduled . of 2023.
With the opposition trapping the Erdoğan government even more on the path of aggression and particularly Turkish marks due to the absence of dialogue.
The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoubas, speaking on Friday to OT, did not rule out the possibility of a surprise attack by Turkey, noting that “Erdogan is also moving in this direction by preparing the ground, with the “Blue Homeland”, with the claims to change borders”. He estimated that “the retreat to sovereign rights has already been decided and launched” and that NATO “will support Turkey”. He also noted that in the event of a conflict, Greece “will be alone” as “NATO, the USA have said so in every way, but the EU is not going to lift a hand to do anything.”
ND MP Kostas Giulekas, for his part, on Saturday, speaking at the OT Forum in TIF, emphasized that the threats are “certainly much more upgraded in terms of intensity and level of determination on the part of the Turkish leadership”. He, in turn, expressed his assessment that, approaching 2023, Turkey will peak even more all this aggressive rhetoric. “Nobody knows where it can go. I’m afraid of the possibility of an accident,” he said. He noted, however, that Greece is careful, it is actually struggling by upgrading its diplomatic policy, but also its defense.
The SYRIZA member of parliament, Yiannis Bournos, also spoke about the possibility of an accident. He estimated that Erdogan will escalate the tension “as much as”, while he described Ankara as a revisionist power that questions everything, noting that Turkish arguments are absurd.
The need to protect national sovereignty was also mentioned by the president of SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, in his speech in Vellideo, something that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had also done last Saturday.
Alliances and international law
Athens, however, in contrast to Ankara, both the government and the opposition, note the need for de-escalation, cool reactions but also steps with full respect for international law.
The alliances that Greece has concluded and through the contracts for the equipment, are estimated to strengthen the country diplomatically, with the support recognized to reach certain limits.
Cyprus
For Greek diplomacy, they also bring the Cyprus issue to the fore. With the political world of Greece highlighting the tragedy of Cyprus and the 48-year occupation by the forces, recognizing that the Turkish international community has diligently avoided giving due importance and reacting as it should.
Cyprus is also considered by both political parties and diplomats to be the target to which Erdogan will try to transfer the tension. The next one is expected to take place in the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus and there should be a corresponding reaction from the international community. With the lifting of the arms embargo to Cyprus by the USA being noted as a positive element and Ankara’s reaction being underlined as a reaffirmation of Turkish revisionism and intransigence.
With next week being UN General Assembly week, Athens and Nicosia are preparing and waiting for Erdogan’s speech. They consider it certain that in his speech the Turkish president will try to denounce Greece as a violator country, to defend the narrative of the “Blue Homeland”, but also Turkey’s claims for the demilitarization of the islands, trying to give the revision the appearance ” legitimacy”. ». And above all to create a distraction within the audience, about a strong Turkey, while the country continues to sink into the economic crisis.