Yesterday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, referring to the increased military budget of our country, that “Greece is plotting something against Turkey”. Of course, Greece does not do anything to the detriment of Turkey, because as you know, it does not claim anything, it is not a revisionist power and it does not own an inch of the territory of a foreign state.
All Greece is doing is taking care of its national defense after many years of inaction for the reasons we know. And this bothers Turkey.
If anyone would like to plot something against another country, it is Turkey, because it is in the territory of Syria, Iraq and Libya as a non-owner, while for 48 years it has owned 36% of the Cypriot territory. What disturbed the neighbors from the east is the fact that with the Greek weapons program, any designs against our country tend to be cancelled, because the cost that Turkey will pay will be particularly high, with the result uncertain.
Shielded islands mean that there is no threat of their occupation, which allows the Greek governments to set their policies for the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean without the fear of losing national territory. As is well known, in the summer of 1974, after the second Attila, Greece did not get involved in a war with Turkey because all the islands of the Eastern Aegean were exposed to Turkish landings, due to their demilitarization. This became a lesson, and all Greek governments, without exception, placed special emphasis on strengthening, in every way, their defense capability. It was and remains a national policy.
The Turkish elites are annoyed today because they have lost the advantage of threatening Greece that at any moment they may occupy a Greek island. And as is well known, a country’s foreign policy is directly linked to its defense capability. Foreign policy without strong armed forces is not understood. It is no coincidence that Greece developed defense synergies and agreements from the moment it started arming itself and sent the message that retaliation will be immediate and unpredictable for the aggressor.
As for the accusations by Erdogan and his associates that we should not have prevented the US from upgrading the Turkish F-16s, the answer is that these upgraded planes would be a threat to our national security. Turkey questions the Greek sovereignty over islands and islets and that is why there is the Turkish army of the Aegean with hundreds of landing craft. Therefore, we are doing well to fight to maintain the balance in the Aegean at acceptable levels for our country. (See also the performances in Germany to delay the delivery of the three submarines to Turkey).
Therefore, as long as the Turks shout, protest and threaten, it seems that the Greek government is doing its job well.
