The Turkish President is making an unprecedented dangerous escalation, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as, following his extreme attack on Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he is further inflaming the climate by taking a research vessel into the "heart" of the Aegean Sea.
At the same time, after the violations in Alexandroupolis, a pair of Turkish F-16 overflights took place yesterday at Oinousses and Panagia.
This is yet another illegal and aggressive action on the part of Ankara, showing that Erdogan will move in this way in the coming period, testing once again the endurance of Athens, which is reacting calmly, while showing its determination to defend the country's sovereign rights.
In this context, Athens is proceeding immediately with the process for the acquisition of the F-35 from the US, a development that will change the situation in the Aegean.
As it became known, the Minister of National Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos had a meeting with JSF PO (Joint Strike Fighter Program Office) officials regarding the F-35 fighter aircraft. Panagiotopoulos stressed that following Kyriakos Mitsotakis' visit to the US, the process of acquiring F-35 aircraft will begin immediately, adding that the Joint Chiefs of Staff will take the necessary actions within the framework of the current procedure for the procurement of defence equipment.
During the meeting, it was stressed that the acquisition of the F-35 aircraft, which will further enhance the country's deterrent capability and the interoperability of the Greek and US Armed Forces, reflects the strategic level of bilateral defence relations.
Fears of a "hot" summer
The Turkish president is once again making jerky moves, dynamiting Greek-Turkish relations, both with his extreme rhetoric and with Ankara's aggressive actions.
Turkey's hydrographic station yesterday issued an illegal Navtex sending the research vessel Yunus into the heart of the Aegean Sea.
According to the naval directive, the vessel will be sent on Wednesday and Thursday to four points in an area between Ai Stratis, Lemnos, Lesvos and Chios.
This is yet another move by Turkey that raises the thermometer in the Aegean, with analysts expressing obvious concern about Ankara's next moves.
The field of tension is not limited to Greek waters, as pressure in Evros is also increasing, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan perhaps preparing - as it seems - a new migration crisis.
Also, in the last 24 hours, the number of migrants trying to reach Greek islands via the Turkish coast has increased.
Cool response from Athens
All possible moves by Turkey to create a hot summer in the Aegean are on the table in Athens, with the Turkish president's rhetoric reminiscent of a wounded beast after the Biden-Mitsotakis meeting.
"Athens will not fall into the trap of the escalation that Turkey is trying to impose, we decide whether to escalate the situation," Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said.
Tayyip Erdogan's latest statements have raised alarm in Athens, which is closely watching the escalation of tensions. The Greek camp may not want to get into a game of statements with the Turkish side, but this does not mean that there is no discussion about what the next moves will be, for fear of a "hot" summer.
Erdogan's statements came as a continuation of escalating provocations by Turkish fighter jets - most recently with flights a breath away from Alexandroupolis - while it was preceded by a barrage of overflights over large Greek islands and... followed - as has at least been announced - by the exit of a Turkish research plane in the heart of the Aegean. To these, we must add the ever-increasing recent refugee flows, a development that has rung a bell in Athens, which does not want to revive memories of previous years.
Source: in.gr
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