The former Undersecretary of Defense spoke of Turkey’s “oriental bargain” and, commenting on Jens Stoltenberg’s stance, described him as a high-paid NATO official trying to serve his agenda.
The assessment that o Recep Tayyip Erdogan trying to cause a hot episode to rally his people, as opinion polls show him collapsing, said the former general and Undersecretary of Defense, Alkiviadis Stefanis speaking on SKAI and the show “Today”
“Looking at the polls and the reactions inside Turkey against him, Erdogan estimates that if he creates such a situation (in one episode), he will take the voters of the extreme parties with him.”stated characteristically.
However, he noted that operationally does not benefit the Turkish president to go looking for an episode, because you do not know how it can unfold. “Even at the moment, his business footprint on the ground does not favor him for what he is going to do.”he pointed out.
Asked about how it could cause an episodeMr. Stefanis stated that although no one can predict it, “can start from a hybrid state which may be re instrumentalization of immigrants and pressure to promote migrants both in Evros and on the islands, some energy of to exclude an uninhabited islandto take his ship out and restart Navtex and research or violations that he now commits individually, or all of them together “.
The former Deputy Minister of Defense explained that the element of hybridism is always analyzed by the Greek staffs, emphasizing that we experience such incidents every day. “We received it in both 2019 and 2020. Yesterday we heard about the poor immigrant who was found dead in Turkey and blamed Greece for it. Also, propaganda is an element of the hybrid war and Erdogan did this by posting a tweet in Greek. “Every Greek tried to feel threatened”he pointed out.
However, as he underlined, for every move Greece has planned its reaction. «We are now out of the point crisis and its point management. We showed this in both Evros and the Aegean. What was Erdogan waiting for? He brought a ship and accompanied it with 2-3 warships and expected that we would do the same. We did not do the same. We activated our entire defense system and activated in places where we knew we were clearly superior. So, we will not let the opposing side take the initiative in a specific place, take us where it wants and form a crisis as it wants“, He added.
However, according to Mr. Stefanis, Turkey’s goal is to force Greece to enter into a discussion with all issues on the table “Estimating from the 50.60, 100 issues that he will raise in the context of the oriental bazaar and the negotiation, he will get 10”.
Commenting on Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s provocative statements yesterday that Greece plays a role “Comparsu”said that when the whole political world, for example the USA, greets standing up, it does not greet a accomplice, but a protagonist.
Finally, asked about the position of equal distances followed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the former general stated that it was one “A high-paid NATO official who has his own agenda and is trying to serve it.”
