By Manolis Kostidis
In military mobility of Greece in the ethers of the Aegean and mainly in its islands, Turkish sources focus their attention. However, Ankara’s intention, at least in terms of leaks, does not seem to be to escalate further.
Turkish fighter jets and drones have flown over almost all of the islands Ankara is claiming demilitarized, which also calls into question the sovereignty of several islands, islets and islets. In recent weeks, Ankara has been closely monitoring Greece’s plans to supply systems to deal with Turkish drones, as well as their installation program in key parts of the country. After all, almost a third of the violations have been committed by Turkish drones.
At the same time, the reports about Athens’ plans for “locking the Aegean” with frigates and anti-aircraft systems to be placed on sea islands are carefully studied by the neighboring country. In fact, they report that the activity of the Turkish Air Force and the training flights continue normally in the “Blue Homeland”, without leaks to the Turkish media. The main political mandate is to keep the tone low, as this was the major political conclusion that emerged after Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
However, the Turkish side emphasizes that the members of the mission of the Greek Ministry of Defense did not go to Ankara in April, as it was decided, to discuss the Confidence Building Measures. They point out that there has been an invitation to wait since the end of 2021. They also claim that the Greek side is not helping to consolidate the climate of trust between the two sides and note that Athens at every opportunity blames Turkey for issues that do not are purely Greek-Turkish: the issue of the Armenian Genocide, the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the release of Osman Kavalas and the fact of the vandalism of the Imperial Gate of Hagia Sophia. In Ankara, they claim that the Greek side is also committing violations in the Aegean and, as they pointed out to us, the Turkish response is usually very strong.
The elections of 2023
Analysts warn that by the 2023 elections there is a strong possibility of political and military mobility of Ankara in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. They stress that, according to current data, it is difficult to overturn the data of the polls that predict the defeat of the ruling AKP-MHP alliance. As they emphasize, only an economic miracle or an unexpected military event could help increase Mr. Erdogan’s percentages. There is a climate of nervousness in the Turkish capital, as they notice that Greece is procuring and already receiving the French Rafale fighters, and the program for the modernization of the F-16 fighters at the Viper level is proceeding normally. The Turkish government has been forced to forget about the supply of F-35s and is now continuing consultations with the US, awaiting congressional approval, in order to be able to procure 40 F-16 Vipers but also to modernize another 80 it has in its possession. its fleet.
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