The Prime Minister's visit yesterday contained strong symbolism and multiple messages to the neighbour, Kyriakos Mitsotakis' visit to the outlying islands of the Aegean, at the same time that almost the entire political class of Turkey was rallying behind Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unfounded claims of a "Blue Homeland".
The Prime Minister chose yesterday to remind symbolically and in all directions the ownership regime governing the Aegean Sea, accompanying a photo of the Greek flag engraved on a coast with the comment: "Pserimos. Where the blue of the Aegean meets the blue of the flag."
With the Greek flag dominating the outlying islands, Mitsotakis' presence in Kos, Pserimos and Astypalaia yesterday served as yet another reminder to the neighbouring country of the protection of national sovereign rights from all kinds of dangers and hybrid threats. A hybrid threat is also defined as the instrumentalization of migration flows, with the Prime Minister stating yesterday that "Greece is able, with absolute respect for human rights, to effectively guard its land and maritime borders. And this is a very serious mission that we have undertaken, not only on behalf of our country but also on behalf of the European Union."
At the European level, the Commission expressed its strong support for Greek positions yesterday, condemning Turkish overflights. Specifically, "the Commission will continue to demand that Turkey cease all threats and actions that damage good neighbourly relations", the Commission replied to ND MEP Manolis Kefalogiannis, adding that "the Commission is aware of the recent increase in violations of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)".
Therefore, being aware of the situation, the Commission also pointed out that "the flights of military aircraft over Greek inhabited areas constitute a violation of international law, while Turkey must explicitly commit itself to good neighbourly relations, international agreements and the peaceful settlement of disputes by recourse, if necessary, to the International Court of Justice". He concluded: "The Commission will continue to demand that Turkey cease all threats and actions that harm good neighbourly relations and respect the sovereignty of all EU Member States over their territorial waters and national airspace."
In fact, if the neighbouring country continues with the same defiant attitude until the end of the month, it is expected to be very close to the main menu of the next summit (23-24 June), in the wake of statements by EU President Emmanuel Macron. The French President joined a long list of statements in support of Greek positions, along with the Commission, the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Continued internationalisation
As the fruits of Athens' campaign of internationalisation of Turkish provocations become more and more visible day by day, the nervousness in Ankara, which turned red yesterday with the Erdogan-Kilitsdaroglu confrontation, increases inversely.
Although the two political men are separated by an abyss and venomous name-calling between them has been going on lately amid an election climate, the head of the Republican People's Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, nevertheless replied to the Turkish president that "it is imperative that we increase the pressure in the Mediterranean and the Aegean. These jobs are not done by taking the ship out and then withdrawing it and saying, 'I wish Biden would call me'." "If you have a soul, take a step for the islands that were occupied and the militarized islands. We will support you!" concluded Kilicdaroglu.
At the same time, Turkish propaganda has invested in a campaign to influence public opinion, as the Turkish Ministry of National Defense is constantly feeding social media with photos and videos from the EFES2022 exercise, depicting scenes of island landings and parachute drops for the purpose of occupying islands and islets.
In addition, operating spasmodically, 32 violations of Greek airspace were recorded yesterday, in one day, by Turkish fighter jets, while more pressure is expected in the coming period at the level of seismic surveys, as Ankara prepares to commission its fourth floating drilling rig in July.
Investing, in any case, in the diplomatic route, the Prime Minister informed his counterparts about the upsurge of Turkish aggression, as it has manifested itself in recent weeks and asked - if Turkey persists in this irrational but also illegal, "If Turkey persists in its illegal and unjustifiable, unacceptable and contrary to international order practice, the issue will be discussed again at the regular Summit Council in June, in order to have an explicit and clear condemnation of Turkey in its conclusions," said the Government Spokesman, Yannis Economou.
He added that: "our country always responds to the challenges of our neighbours with composure and national self-confidence since we have international law on our side, we have our allies on our side and our strong and increasingly strengthened deterrent capability to defend our sovereignty and sovereign rights", he stressed.
"Counterproductive" hyperbole
Watching, at the same time, top leaders' statements about Ankara's de-escalating tensions, Economou also argued that "just a day after the prime minister met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the German government's spokesman clearly moved away from the line of equal distances." Moreover, he stressed that it is not acceptable to challenge the sovereignty of the European Union member states and stressed that the chancellor is of the opinion that, given the current situation, it is necessary for all NATO allies to be united and refrain from provoking each other. He also said that violating Greek airspace and flying over Greek islands are not acceptable actions." "They are counterproductive and against the spirit of the Alliance and he added that questioning the sovereignty of EU member states cannot be accepted."
Summing up the Greek doctrine, "our country's foreign policy is a policy of consistency, stability and principles. It is a policy of respect for international law without ambiguity and nonsense. At the same time, we are adamant on issues concerning our national sovereignty and our sovereign rights," the Government Spokesman concluded.
At the same time, the Greek government is adamant on protecting the country's international image, making sure that nothing is left unanswered. In this spirit, "Turkey must finally abandon the constant repetition of falsehoods. There are no terrorist bases in Greece. This is known and accepted by everyone and Minister Soylu should accept this and not resort to imaginary scenarios. This is his obligation to restore the truth as a minister of a NATO member state", underlined the Minister of Citizen Protection, Takis Theodoricakos, in response to a provocative post of the Turkish Interior Minister, Suleiman Soylou on Twitter, through which he claimed that "Greece is training Kurdish terrorists of the PKK and FETO.
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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