Tayyip Erdogan was in the occupied territories yesterday and in his statements he first spoke of peace and then sent a threatening message to Greece.

As SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis reports from Istanbul, the Turkish president specifically emphasized that “we want peace in the Aegean. But if some people don’t want it, then we will implement another plan.”

In detail, Etogan stressed: “Our road map is clear. Our roadmap focuses on peace. In these seas there is no way out but peace. If there are those who want to obstruct peace, then we will be forced to implement a different plan. Our desire is that such obstacles do not appear before us and that the Aegean gives its own message of peace to the world”.

Hard line on the Cyprus issue and on armaments

Meanwhile, Erdogan has made it clear that he will only return to the negotiating table if the “TRNC” is recognized as a state.

At the same time, he also spoke about the armaments, talking about risk: “Those who deal with the meaningless armaments that are against the balance on the island and in the region should carefully calculate the risk of their actions. The peace and security of our brothers on the island also means our own peace and security.”

Pessimism in the Turkish media about the modernization and receipt of F-16s

At the same time pessimism prevails in Turkey regarding the modernization of the F-16s, as even if Congress says “yes”, Turkey will receive the first F-16s at the earliest in 2027. That is why the Turks are considering the possibility purchase of Eurofighter from Britain.

As the Turkish media report in their analyses:

“On the other hand, even if the US Congress today gives the green light to Turkey’s request for the F-16 Block 70, it will take months for deliveries to begin. Lockheed Martin’s facility in Greenville, South Carolina, where the F-16 Block 70 fighter jet is manufactured, can produce four F-16 Block 70 fighter jets per month.

Currently, Taiwan, Greece, Morocco, Singapore, South Korea, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Jordan, the Philippines, and Slovakia either have active F-16 Block 70 orders or are planning to place orders in the near future. Currently, Lockheed Martin has an order volume of about 150 units for the F-16 Block 70. While the first F-16 Block 70 delivery took place in March this year in Bahrain.

At best, it is projected to take three years before deliveries of F-16 Block 70 fighter jets to Turkey begin. It is known that Turkey’s “plan B” in case the approval for the F-16 Block 70 is not given is the Eurofighter Typhoon… However, there are several question marks there as well. We will talk about these question marks when the time comes…”

Erdogan’s plan to create a canal in Istanbul is back

Meanwhile, Erdogan’s plan to create an Istanbul canal is back. As the Turkish analysts report in their analysis of the television networks, “Kanal Istanbul will have transit fees. While the ships in the Bosphorus will wait for many days.”

As the academic Mesoud Haki Jasin mentioned: “Let’s make it clear that the passage through the Istanbul Canal will be done with the payment of passage fees. One might wonder why pay tolls when one can cross the Bosphorus with less money. Because when the ship will wait for days here or in the Black Sea, this means the loss of several million dollars of money.”

Ozai Sentir, journalist of Milliyet newspaper, commented: “The possibility of creating a new Bosphorus should not be considered only for political reasons. There are also parameters such as ecological effects, earthquake issues. These should be looked into. One of the issues is whether Istanbul can withstand another increase in population, as Istanbul cannot withstand another population.”