Turkey continues to up the ante and behave in the Mediterranean as a regional Islamic supremacist bully. As a result, Greece is now building up its military, developing its defense industry as Turkish President Erdogan warns that “Turkey will continue to follow a determined and active policy in the eastern Mediterranean.” Erdogan issued a thinly-veiled threat to Greece: “I advise those who, instead of sitting around the table with us, show defiance with their dilapidated military forces, to carefully inspect our diplomatic efforts and military operations of the past four years.”
Erdogan has also continued to threaten to “open the gates” and allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim migrants to flood into Greece and the EU in general. Meanwhile, Turkey has been busy shooting down Syrian migrants — women and children included — as they attempted to cross into Turkey.
“Greece to Boost Military Amidst Tensions with Turkey,” Associated Press, September 8, 2020:
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece will bolster its military with new arms, more personnel and by developing the country’s defence industry, the government said Monday, as a tense standoff with neighbouring Turkey has led to concerns of open conflict between the two NATO allies.
Ankara is facing off against Greece and Cyprus over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Greece and Turkey have deployed naval and air forces to assert their competing claims.
“The Turkish leadership is unleashing, on a near-daily basis, threats of war and makes provocative statements against Greece,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said. “We respond with political, diplomatic and operational readiness, determined to do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereign rights.”
Petsas said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would be announcing details of plans to upgrade the country’s military during his annual state of the economy speech on Saturday….
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan characterized Greece’s armed forces as “dilapidated” and called on Athens to seek a dialogue with Turkey. He also criticized the EU, which has backed EU member Greece in the dispute.
“I advise those who, instead of sitting around the table with us, show defiance with their dilapidated military forces, to carefully inspect our diplomatic efforts and military operations of the past four years,” Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting.
“Turkey will continue to follow a determined and active policy in the eastern Mediterranean,″ Erdogan said.
Last Saturday, Erdogan warned Greece to enter talks over conflicting eastern Mediterranean territorial claims or face the consequences.
“They’re either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said….
In Athens, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Turkey was the only regional country “that threatens its neighbours with war when they want to exercise their legal rights — in blatant violation of the U.N. Charter.”….
Avenger says
The regional powers Egypt, France, Italy, Israel and the US (military bases on Turk soil) need to declare war on Turkey as soon as it violates Greek territorial sovereignty. Greece’s population and land mass is minute compared to turkeys. Turkey has also been embellished with military and financial aid from the US and NATO nations for decades as a containment wall against the Soviet Union. Now turkey will use this vast military machine against its smaller neighbors like Greece to regain lost territories of the failed Ottoman Empire.
SAFI says
Yeah well that seems like a rather far-fetched scenario, usually every country looks after its own ass unless they become directly threatened. The only country of those you mentioned that could be realistically expected to enter the fray is France and that’s because of recent defense agreemants it has signed with Cyprus and Greece and some of its own interests being also threatened by Turkey. Also Greece isn’t quite that helpless against Turkey, they got a pretty capable Air-Force, Navy as well as ground forces. If the Turks could win a war that easily they’d have already attacked, but they still can’t…
Avenger says
Safi,
France is giving Greece a squadron of modern fighter jets. Egypt is going in the direction of giving the Greeks full military allegiance if war breaks out. This just isn’t about Greece being bulldozed over by Erdogan, this idiot is threatening many countries on the Mediterranean. The US State department is still doing back flips because erdo bought the Russian anti aircraft s400 system. They could easily bring about a new government in turkey if war breaks out.
Boycott Turkey says
Greece should try and acquire nuclear weapons as a deterrent think it would be difficult though but they should try Turkey would be to cowardly to confront a nuclear power
Norman Gardner says
Greece has been working on military co-operation with Israel which although a small nation is technologically superior to Turkey in many ways including the military.
SAFI says
“Meanwhile, Turkey has been busy shooting down Syrian migrants — women and children included — as they attempted to cross into Turkey.”
Unlike the fake news about “refugees” being shot by “nazi” Greece border guards, don’t expect to ever see such a story being reported by Anadolu and all the other turkish regime propaganda media which keep slandering Greece and other “enemies” of Turkey on a daily basis.
Also the AP article is kinda misleading… Greece has invited Turkey to “dialogue” and also proposed to take their maritime boundaries issue to the Int’l Court but Turkey cunningly and deceptively evades by putting forward a long list of unacceptable preconditions before agreeing to enter talks such as that Greece demilititarizes all its Aegean islands (which turkish politicians such as Erdogan’s vice president have been threatening to seize on a daily basis) and a whole host of other unrelated issues and demands including Mosques, Muftis, turkish alleged “islamophobia” and supposed oppression of Muslims, etc so that when Greece refuses to discuss all this bullshit “issues” that Turkey keeps pulling out of its arse, the Turks can shift the blame on Greece and claim the Greeks are the aggressors who obstinately refuse to engage in “dialogue” to settle the matter peacefully…
Jaydam says
Turkey’s Hitler is getting more and more brazen, by threatening a fellow NATO country,
and no response from NATO. ( No Surprise There Then ).
Likewise with the EU. When Yugoslavia erupted into regional civil wars over 25 years ago, the EU was running round like headless chicken. They have shown time and time again, they are not fit to manage a piss up in a brewery. Yet they are so keen to flood European countries with illiterate 3rd world migrants, including bronze aged Muslim’s.
SAFI says
Actually NATO’s burreaucracy like its Norwegian socialist G.S Jens Stoltenberg is tacitly supporting Turkey mainly because Turkey is seen as being a more valuable member than Greece (with turkish armed forces being 2nd largest in NATO etc)
As for Yugoslavia the EU can hardly be called uninvolved in that conflict… many EU(&NATO) countries like Britain, Germany and others openly and actively supported the Muslims(who were also getting support from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia..) while waging a relentless propaganda campaign against the Serbs before Bill Clinton began bombing Belgade
GreekEmpress says
I posted this on a different thread from yesterday.
But in case anyone missed seeing it—
I had an email from Ned May of gatesofvienna.
He is still looking for a replacement for PayPal.
He is looking at TipSmack, Payoneer, and GiveSendGo.
Anybody wishing to contribute to his snail mail fundraiser to keep gatesofvienna going in the meantime can contact him at:
nedmay@chromatism.net
Jaydam says
For what its worth,… I would advise him to have nothing to do with Payoneer, as several large online company’s that I’m involved with, stopped using them as a payment processing company, several years ago. I never got to find out the reason why, but they only use Paxum and Cosmo Payments now.
GreekEmpress says
Thanks Jaydam,
Do you know anything about the other two he mentioned?
gravenimage says
Thanks for that information.
gravenimage says
Greece bolstering its military amid Turkey’s ‘provocative statements’ and ‘near-daily’ threats of war
…………….
Good for Greece. Of course, they should not have to do this.
Eleanor says
I bet Trump is watching Turkey closely.
mortimer says
VIOLENT HYPOCRITES! Note: the Turkish police are shooting fellow Muslims!
“Meanwhile, Turkey has been busy shooting down Syrian migrants — women and children included — as they attempted to cross into Turkey.”
OLD GUY says
Greece better and needs to show their military force or Islam will do what it always has attack the weak.