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The Erdogan government continues to present a double face in its policy in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, shortly before the crucial European Union Summit. At a time when exploratory contacts are about to begin and, in fact, Turkish President Ibrahim Kalin’s own spokesman has made public the exact content of the bilateral contacts, Ankara insists on taking a provocative stance and intensifying the climate with inflammatory statements. Erdogan and Akar in the “Blue Homeland”.
So Ankara launched a new NAVTEX today, just a few days after Oruc Reis left, for September 29, blocking an area between Rhodes and Kastelorizo. Within NAVTEX there is also an area of Greek jurisdiction. Around the same time came the provocative statements by Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey will continue to defend the “Blue Homeland” and its rights and this framework will strengthen its navy.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the naval battle of Preveza in September 1538, Erdogan said:
“Today, as one of the 10 countries that can design, build and maintain warships, we will continue to strengthen our naval forces and protect the ‘Blue Homeland’ to strengthen the sense of trust in our allies and continue:” We are defending our interests. ” , He said.
Along the same lines, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in his own message that “we will continue to defend their interests in all seas, especially in the Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.”
“Recent events in the eastern Mediterranean have shown that our country has a modern naval force, which is vital,” said the Turkish defense minister.
“Our Navy will reach a stronger level with the completion of new projects manufactured by the defense industry of our country.” We will continue to resolutely defend their interests in all seas, especially in the Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, “he said Akar in a statement.
Insists on defying Lausanne and demilitarizing the islands
At a time when Turkey calls for dialogue and invokes international law, it is pushing the line of review overboard, challenging the Lausanne Treaty, claiming that Greece is violating the Lausanne Treaty.
In this context, the Turkish National Security Council called for “a fair distribution of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean”, but also the demilitarization of the Aegean islands, supporting:
“Countries that act in contravention of international law and treaties must respect common sense, in particular with regard to equipping demilitarized islands.
At the same meeting, the National Security Council again raised the issue of the demilitarization of the Greek Aegean islands and focused on the Republic of Cyprus, urging the international community and especially the European Union to respect the rights and interests of Turkey and the pseudo-state of Cyprus. .
According to the Anadolu agency, the statement said that “the Turkish nation, as it has done so far, will no longer make concessions in defending its rights and interests on land, sea and air.”
All this shows that despite the rhetoric of dialogue favored by Ankara in recent weeks, in practice its policies and demands remain unchanged, which means that dialogue between Greece and Turkey is not only an easy task.
In fact, Erdogan not only does not hide but does everything possible to ensure full dialogue beyond the delimitation of maritime zones desired by the Greek government.
Kalin: Political and Military Conversations Other Than Exploratory
The revelation that in addition to exploratory contacts, Greece and Turkey will hold simultaneous political and military talks, said the representative of the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin. “These are two most important talks,” he stressed, between Greece and Turkey, which will cover the full range of Greek-Turkish relations.
Political consultations will focus more on bilateral relations, from the economy to tourism, and from border security to the issue of minorities. And these talks will continue to take place between the Foreign Ministries, said Ibrahim Kalin, according to sigmalive.
The second part of the negotiation between Greece and Turkey will be at the military level. This is a mechanism, as stated by the representative of the Turkish Presidency, entitled “Meetings of Confidence-Building Measures Among the Military”, which has been formed for the Aegean and which will allow Greek-Turkish military cooperation on land, sea, air and borders. .
As Ibrahim Kalin pointed out, some of these meetings have already taken place, like last week in the framework of NATO. “These meetings will be a continuation of those (of NATO),” he clarified.
An investigation date has not yet been set
Ibrahim Kalin said the date of the exploratory contacts has not been clarified and that he will discuss it with his counterparts.
“At this point it is very important that our president pave the way, giving a second chance to diplomacy and negotiations. This should be respected by the EU, but also by the Greek side.
“We had already agreed with Greece 1-1.5 months ago to announce the resumption of exploratory talks, but due to the agreement that Greece signed then with Egypt, it was canceled. Now we hope that we will never face a similar situation again.
Meanwhile, next week, from 1 to 2 October, the EU summit will take place. “It is also very important here whether the Turkish agenda will be treated in a positive way.”
Double face against France
Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues diplomatic poker against Emanuel Macron. Just two weeks after the attack on the French president, who directly threatened “not to get involved with the Turkish people and Turkey” because “he would have personal problems with me”, it is revealed that the Turkish president approached the French president to ask him to supply Turkey with the systems. European air defense.
According to Bloomberg information from unidentified officials, during a telephone conversation on Tuesday, Erdogan asked Macron to help Turkey meet in co-production of Eurosam’s SAMP / T missile defense systems.
According to the report, Macron asked him for guarantees. “Turkey needs to make its goals in Syria clear before anything about European systems can be considered,” a French presidential official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Bloomberg.
This approach, coupled with repeated requests to the United States for Patriot systems, shows that Ankara is allowing its Western allies to provide it with air defense systems so that it does not have to resort to Russian options.
Turkey’s previous purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system has severely tested its relations with NATO allies, including the United States, who have argued that its development could help Moscow gather critical information, including important ones. . advanced american warplane.
Ankara has yet to activate the Russian missile suite, which was delivered last year. However, despite the threat of US sanctions, Erdogan refused to abandon them or change them to an American system. Moscow has proposed joint production as part of a possible second deal, which Turkey has been negotiating for almost a year.
Turkey says it needs an advanced air defense system and was forced to buy it from Russia as its allies did not meet its defense needs on the terms it wanted. The United States has rejected Turkey’s request to transfer technology as part of the Patriot market.
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