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It was German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who recently warned of the abyss. And it’s not just the Germans who are concerned about what’s happening in the eastern Mediterranean,
It is a crisis that is really the last thing both Greece and Turkey need. These are two countries that are deeply dependent on tourism and have been hit hard this year by the corona pandemic.
But there is guaranteed to be something that scares tourists more than a virus. And it is war.
We haven’t got there yet, but tension has been high for several weeks. And Turkey’s hardliner President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not doing much to calm the mood.
Here’s how he expressed himself as recently as over the weekend:
– They must understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or feel the painful experiences of the field.
These are the Greeks you’re talking about. That is the battlefield you are referring to. Erdogan also warned that Turkey is ready “for any eventuality and outcome.”
Several parallel military exercises have been carried out in the eastern Mediterranean in late summer. This week, Turkey is also conducting a major annual military exercise in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus. It’s called “Storm over the Mediterranean.”
Approximately 40 tanks moved
Turkish media also reported that some 40 tanks were transported from southeastern Turkey and the border with Syria, and instead moved to the northwestern part of the country and the border with Greece.
So what has triggered this acute tension? Turkey and Greece are not good friends at first, on the contrary.
But both have been members of the NATO defense alliance since 1952, and one hope was that that membership would prevent further conflict between them.
For the most part, it has worked well, although they came close to going to war in 1974 and again in 1996. On both occasions, the United States intervened strongly and calmed them down.
But now is the year 2020. With Donald Trump, America is focused on other things. The turning point, however, came in the name of truth already under President Barack Obama, who clearly pointed out that the eastern Mediterranean was not considered particularly important.
And under Erdogan’s presidency, Turkey has shown its willingness to show its military strength and act. Like in Syria. Like in Libya. Erdogan has also greatly upset the rest of NATO by purchasing advanced Russian air defense systems last year.
And Turkey is back on the offensive. Now it’s about the oil and gas deposits that have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean over the last decade. Israel made a major discovery off its coast in 2010, Egypt and 2015.
“Every spark can lead to disaster”
One problem for Turkey is that the country is surrounded by a string of pearls from small islands belonging to Greece. This is what happens when countries claim the lake area surrounding the land mass.
Turkey does not approve of the Greek claims. Greece relies on a UN agreement that Turkey has not recognized. Instead, Turkey has signed an agreement with Libya over the summer, dividing important areas of the Mediterranean.
And Turkey has sent oil and gas exploration vessels to areas between Cyprus and Turkey that the Greeks believe are theirs. In August, a Turkish and a Greek frigate collided, but no one was injured.
But that’s what German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says when he says:
– Every spark, no matter how small, can cause a catastrophe.
And while Erdogan is verbally abusive, the Greeks also show no willingness to compromise. The country has also received military support from countries such as France and the United Arab Emirates.
In a recent Greek opinion poll, 49.2 percent of Greeks answered “yes” or “probably yes” to the question of whether they support a military response to Turkish provocations.
Not long ago, most likely the United States would have turned its arm towards Turkey and Greece and made them reason. The question is whether the EU or NATO can get them to do it instead.
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Cases are only recorded on the mainland, despite discoveries on the islands.
