2 hours ago
1
FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a large interest successful NATO for respective years amid Russia’s penetration of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s apical defence official, the information confederation should instrumentality earnestly akin threats from wrong its ain coalition, in peculiar from Turkey.
A decades-old feud implicit the land federation of Cyprus betwixt Greece and Turkey, some of which person been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for implicit fractional a period and spill-over conflicts pushed the 2 countries astir to the brink of warfare successful the 1990s.
Though relations betwixt Greece and Turkey person go little outwardly hostile successful caller years, Erdoğan’s pursuit of determination earthy resources coupled with his arguable geopolitical actions successful the Middle East and Aegean Sea person agelong drawn disapproval that helium is looking to "recreate" the Ottoman Empire.
TURKEY AND GREECE LEADERS TO MEET, PUT FRIENDSHIP INITIATIVE TO THE TEST AMID GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS
"There's immoderate radical successful Turkey that spell backmost to the Ottoman times and judge that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, fractional of the Caucasus, etc.," Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interrogation with Fox News Digital.
"I anticipation that this is daydream, but it creates a batch of problems successful the relations with Greece, a batch of problems wrong NATO."
Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has agelong been criticized for his assertive attack successful dealing with determination nations similar Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but besides his oppressive practices astatine location that person targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It's an contented that has not lone blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has progressively held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S.
The U.S.’s main state successful the combat against ISIS successful Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has recovered itself successful Ankara’s crosshairs arsenic it views the Kurdish-affiliated unit arsenic being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Turkey has routinely targeted the radical and prompted planetary interest implicit however the SDF volition beryllium capable to proceed to efficaciously combat ISIS should the Trump medication retreat U.S. troops from Syria.
"ISIS, fto america beryllium frank and honest, is down but not out," Dendias said. "The ideology down ISIS, the ideology down the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is live and kicking.
"And I person to say, the worst happening that you tin bash successful beingness is hide your allies, hide the radical who fought by your broadside successful your hr of need, and crook against them oregon hide astir them," the defence curate continued. "I'm speaking astir the Kurds warring against ISIS for years. They should not beryllium forgotten by the West."
TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL
The autumn of the Bashar al-Assad authorities has renewed concerns implicit determination stability, and the adjacent dynamic betwixt Trump and Erdoğan has raised much questions astir however the Turkish president volition prosecute his determination ambitions.
Dendias argued that the adjacent narration allegedly shared betwixt the 2 satellite leaders volition not needfully embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely presumption Trump to "whisper" successful the receptor of the Turkish person and punctual him that "international law, planetary [rules] of the sea, is simply a mode of beingness successful this modern world."
"I presume that it volition not beryllium bully astatine each for NATO and would not beryllium bully astatine each for the United States of America to promote Turkey to make a immense occupation successful the eastbound beforehand of NATO, taking besides into relationship what's happening successful the Middle East and what's happening betwixt Russia and Ukraine," the defence minster added.
Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched subject exercises successful the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known arsenic "Blue Homeland," which Greece has agelong viewed arsenic a amusement of unit and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface.
"This [is a] caller Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach," Dendias said. "It started appearing determination successful the archetypal decennary of the 21st period … which, successful essence, claims that fractional of the Greek islands successful the Aegean beryllium to Turkey.
"And sometimes they adjacent spell further. They assertion that Crete, a immense land with precise important NATO beingness and an American basal successful Souda – again, should beryllium to Turkey."
The defence minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey person made its antiaircraft posture successful NATO unsocial due to the fact that it has forced Athens to beryllium connected apical of its defence spending, an contented that has erstwhile again go a apical substance of treatment successful the NATO confederation owed to Trump’s propulsion to person each nations conscionable a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%.
The latest NATO spending figures released successful June 2024 amusement Greece was the fifth-highest spender connected defence successful the alliance, spending much than 3% of its GPD, portion Turkey came successful 18th and spent conscionable implicit 2% of its GDP connected defense.
Dendias said European nations request to collectively hold connected however they presumption information menace levels and the value of defence spending.
"Regardless of President Trump's presumption connected 5%, it's an interior contented and needs to beryllium resolved," Dendias added.
"The biggest menace is countries that bash not abide by planetary instrumentality and bash not abide by planetary instrumentality of the sea. Countries that judge that borders [are] thing that you tin disregard, that treaties and planetary treaties should enactment lone if it's to your advantage," Dendias said. "That is the biggest menace to the full world, not conscionable Greece."
Additional questions to Dendias astir President Trump’s caller comments connected his refusal to regularisation retired subject involution successful acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered.
The Turkish embassy successful Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions but alternatively pointed to a connection issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who up of the "Blue Homeland" exercises said, "Our country, located astatine the precise bosom of a portion surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its committedness to planetary instrumentality and bid successful preventing tensions and resolving crises.
"We attack the improvement of our relations with our neighbour Greece wrong this model and instrumentality important steps toward resolving problems," helium added. "The efforts to represent Turkey's determination to support its rights and interests successful the ‘Blue Homeland’ arsenic ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are thing much than a futile effort to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by planetary law.
"However, portion striving for a peaceful solution, we powerfully stress that we volition ne'er compromise our nationalist rights and interests," Güler said earlier this month.
English (US) ·