With Ankara and Athens already on a pre-election trajectory, the Generals know that the tone will not be lowered
Dionysis Nasopoulos – SOURCE: in.gr
The message has long been delivered to Ankara. If the Turkish leadership believes that a cat-and-dog game is being played in the Aegean, with Turkey feeling stronger on the ground and simply waiting for the opportunity for a clash that can assign responsibility for the kick-off to Athens, things are not only they may not develop as depicted in the blueprints of a conflict, but they can easily get out of control. In a concentration of fire for the sake of sensationalism in the waters of the Aegean or further south, accident always lurks.
The episode that sent the Turkish frigate “Kemal Reis” to carnage in August 2020, which accompanied the research vessel “Oruç Reis” on the challenging walks south of Kastellorizos, offers lessons anyway. The response from the frigate “Lemnos” could light the fuse on both sides, but there is always next time. At that stage, the test of the high operational readiness of the Greek side, imposed restraint, much more since the Turkish side could not invoke an invitation to a state of defense.
For Chief GEETHA, morale and Greek reflexes were tested in the open sea below the Acritian island – with the crew of the frigate “Lemnos” sending a strong message of deterrence and strength in every direction. At the same time, however, General Konstantinos Floros had no doubt that the game that started in the summer of 2020 hides more risks for the future. Two years later, the vigilance in the Aegean is greater, in a constantly changing geopolitical situation. Since then and at every opportunity, the triptych “Alertness – Readiness – Preparation” is the essence of his own intervention.
With Turkish incendiary rhetoric escalating, fueling a bellicose atmosphere, commando Floros knows equally well that morale injections must be continuous. “They tell us that we are few, lacking and insignificant. We have always been few and we have always lacked strength. We were never insignificant. We are a militarily strong force in the region, whose mission is to preserve everything that our ancestors left us and to ensure peace in our region”, he explained the other day, also looking at the internal audience. But it is clear that his own design of the dynamics and strengths of the Armed Forces is based on more evidence. Greece’s new high strategy is multifactorial.
With Ankara and Athens already on a pre-election trajectory, the Generals know that the tone is not going to be lowered. The accident will further swirl the rhetorical contest until the new political landscape is finalized. The Head of GEETHA points out that the difference between peace and conflict is clear, but the same is not true of crisis. Each actor perceives the crisis differently and reacts differently, while hybrid threats blur the landscape even more (“Greek high strategy – Dialogues with the country’s leadership”, edited by Athanasios Platias – Christos Hatziemmanouil, Eurasia publications).
If the Greek Armed Forces are challenged on the field, they have the ability to defend and punish any conspirator, but for General Floros it is equally clear that “if a time comes when you have to fight for your survival, you will be alone you”. At least in the initial phase.
And here the possibility of an accident in a saturated environment emerges more compellingly. Without détente moves primarily from Ankara, the Greek “Pentagon” sees that the possibility is extremely high. Where this will lead, no one knows. Those who invest in a hot episode of hours or a few days are planning recklessly. If the fire breaks out, Greece will not be the first to run to find a fire extinguisher. She will fight back to guard her own space. This is the second message from Floros that has also reached Ankara.
