The tension between Greece and Turkey is teetering dangerously on the edge of a “hot” phase, that is, a military conflict, the center of which this time turned out to be Cyprus, beloved by tourists. It has already reached the point of air defense systems at planes, and the mass media have already “spread the word” about the launched missiles and even the downed plane. This did not happen, but it is obvious that the situation is heated and for any incident, there is a risk of starting real hostilities right at the resorts, and if the situation develops adversely, all this can become a trigger for the third world war.
What is interesting is that Turkey plans to defend itself from Greece with the help of NATO forces, even though Greece itself is a member of this alliance. So far – only legal ones. She intends to raise issues with NATO regarding the August 23 incident, when the Greek military caught Turkish F-16 fighter jets “on the radar” of Greek S-300s, which are Russian-made anti-aircraft missile systems, located in Cyprus. According to Greece, the fighter jets entered the country’s airspace. According to Turkey, the F-16 fighter jets flew as part of solving NATO’s tasks over the Aegean Sea.
We will remind you that both countries are members of the Alliance. At the same time, Turkey claims that Greece “acted against the principles of the Alliance” and calls on NATO to investigate. The country assures that “the radar blocking of combat aircraft of a NATO ally country is considered a “hostile act” by the Alliance’s Rules of Conduct”
What is interesting is that Turkey is not against using the “sanctions” “baton” as well, declaring the “double standards” of Western countries, which negatively assessed Ankara’s acquisition of Russian S-400s, while the Russian S-300s in service with Greece somehow do not bother the alliance. “Greece pursues the aircraft of a NATO member country with the help of a Russian-made system. The S-400s that Turkey is buying affect the implementation of the F-35 aircraft project, but the S-300s do not. The American CAATSA law should be applied to Greece,” the Turks say.
We will remind you that at the beginning of the summer season this year, there was also a “spark” between Greece and Turkey. The scandal began against the background of the EU’s approval of the Turkish trademark Turkaegean (meaning something like the Turkish Aegean Sea). Greece has expressed outrage over the approval by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of the use of “Turkaegean” as a trademark in Turkey’s tourism campaigns targeting the Aegean Sea. Former Foreign Minister Georgios Katrougalos said on Twitter that the EU’s decision was “unacceptable”, especially during Turkey’s ongoing aggression against Greece.
The next Turkish declaration was an image of Erdogan’s ally and member of the ruling coalition, Devlet Bahceli, with a map on which the Greek islands were marked as Turkish territory. In Greece, in turn, it was assessed as “a particularly aggressive provocative act.” After that, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at an already provocative solemn ceremony in honor of the anniversary of the capture of Constantinople, stated that Turkey’s goal is to regain all spheres of influence. He included the Peloponnese and Athens among them. And he promised Greece a “tragic end” (read details here). Then, by the way, it also reached the armed forces: Greece began to transfer military equipment to the border areas near the Maritsa River. Then the conflict “dissolved” – but as we can see, at any moment it is ready to flare up again…