Anadolu provokes again: “War-happy” Greece after 100 years -…
Another provocative article against Greece is “hosted” by the Turkish news agency Anadolu, even going so far as to claim that the Greek economy will soon receive help from the IMF.
Ignoring for years the situation in which Turkey’s economy has fallen due to the economic policy of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the “bread baskets” that have been set up in many cities, Anadolu in its article “Greece and its heavy burden on Europe” lists the armament program of the last 3 years of Greece, speaking of a “hostile attitude” and …”absurd claims against Turkey’s legitimate rights in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean“.
The opinion piece is signed by Osman Can Unver, a member of the Teaching Scientific Staff at Istinye University, Istanbul.
Read the full article:
Greece’s hostile attitude towards Turkey in the last period, especially after Kyriakos Mitsotakis took over as prime minister in 2019, led to an increase in tensions between the two countries.
Greece frequently violates Turkish airspace in the Aegean, harasses Turkish fighter jets and makes absurd claims against Turkey’s legal rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
It continues to build up troops on the islands near the Turkish coast, which were supposed to be demilitarized according to international agreements. Its behavior is apparently encouraged by the two countries’ Western allies, without considering the actual situation, which is completely contrary to international law. Recently, the Greek coastguard opened harassing fire with automatic weapons against an unarmed Turkish cargo ship near the Turkish coast for no reason.
Greek coast guard vessels frequently harass Turkish fishing vessels in a similar manner, not to mention the violation of human rights of irregular migrants in the Aegean. The forced repulsion of migrants in the Aegean cannot escape the attention of the international community. However, the behavior of Greece, which does not recognize international law, is somehow constantly ignored.
We can understand many motives behind Greece’s hostile behavior towards Turkey.
First, there are historical, political, economic and psychological motives on which Greece builds its anti-Turkish policy. The role of the allies cannot be discussed in the limited context of this analysis, but there are indications that Greece is being “spoiled” by the “subsidies” presented by its always philhellene allies.
An unacceptable attitude, which is incompatible with the conditions of today’s world and region, can cause such unnecessary damage to nations. Mitsotakis repeatedly continues his slanderous rhetoric against Turkey and at the same time tries to present a “peaceful” image of Greece to the world. Given his recent address to the UN General Assembly, Mitsotakis’ statement that Greece is peaceful and a “good neighbor” shows an obvious contradictory attitude. Only if Greece’s self-defined interests are accepted, regardless of the legitimate objections of its stronger neighbor, and if Greek goals are met unconditionally, could this country be assessed as “peaceful”.
The Turkish Republic, as one of the leading regional powers, logically cannot be forced to submit to such a rhetoric full of many contradictions. This style is inherent in those who are unrighteous and persistently walk the long road.
Greece has the support of the EU
What makes Greece so sure of itself and so warlike once again, as a century ago, must be considered in the light of its recent past. During the 2008 global financial crisis, Greece was unable to repay its debt. The drastic austerity measures intensified the political and economic unrest in the country. Greece has structural inadequacies and is far from an industrial production economy, and after joining the EU through financial resources instead of investing in industry. The economic crisis was the result of structural problems that ignored the loss of tax revenue due to systematic tax evasion.
Political concerns about escalation of tension
The method of diverting the attention of voters from domestic problems to foreign policy is undoubtedly a method resorted to by politicians in almost every country. Greece had entered a period of confrontation with the EU and its steam engine, Germany, which it considers not providing enough support to resolve the crisis and has not given Greek public attention to the Aegean and Turkish issues. All these maneuvers, of course, did not contribute to the resolution of the crisis, on the contrary, they caused the political institution to become even more involved.
The main issue of Greek foreign policy during the crisis was undoubtedly relations with the EU and Germany. Greece needed the support of the EU because of the problem and mainly the statements of Angela Merkel, the then chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the leading creditor country, the countries were at times perceived as harmful and the imposition of austerity policies. led to the emergence of a strong anti-Germanism in the country. Indeed, given various statements under the pressure of her own domestic public opinion, Merkel used or wanted to use German aid as a political trump card to get Greece out of the crisis it fell into due to financial mismanagement. The German media went even further and suggested that “Greece should put the islands in the Aegean up for sale” to escape the crisis.
Today, it is believed that the financial crisis of Greece has been overcome. Mr. Mitsotakis, leader of New Democracy, who came to power replacing SYRIZA, it traditionally follows an anti-Turkish policy, which is supported by Western powers.
Greece, which is supposed to have overcome the great crisis at the expense of the fiscal of Western countries, is again showing an adventurous attitude in foreign policy, probably for reasons of domestic political interest.
Greece, which has faced such significant economic problems in the recent past, is investing significant resources in equipment due to the hostile policy of the current government towards Turkey.
She buys warplanes and other heavy weapons, putting her people in huge debt.
At €357 billion, Greece is the country with the highest public debt in the EU. Nevertheless, it has become the most equipped country in NATO, spending 3.76% of its GDP on equipment. Greece bought 27 Rafale fighter jets and three frigates from France. Additionally, in December 2021, Greece requested $9.4 billion in arms purchases from the US. Not content with that, he had a budget of 300 million euros to increase the capacity of military bases granted to the US in the country and to build new bases. The government could lead to a financial collapse with such an astronomical debt. In this case, Greece has intensified defense spending with military partnerships with various countries, yet lacks a functioning domestic defense industry. Thus, it will soon become dependent again on foreign financial aid and IMF outreach programs.
As long as this attitude continues, Greece will burden the economies of its “allies”, the support of which it enjoys today. Therefore, it is one of the most important tasks of our day that Greece be called to reason and become a peace-loving neighbor. This is primarily the responsibility of the Greek people and those who use Greece for their political interests.
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