Will the US and France Fight Turkey for Greece?

The Ottoman Empire, which ruled three continents and maintained its state structure for more than 600 years until the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, used the term "Greek" and "Greece" in reference to the Ionian Sea in the Adriatic. Undoubtedly, the Republic of Turkey, the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, continued to call this satellite state, which the West restructured as an artificial nation-state and which the West had rebranded as "Greece" with a "Roman" idiom, "Greece". Although it is wrong, it has continued and still continues to call "Grecia", which has expanded within the framework of the Megali Idea (Great Idea) put forward by the westerners, as "Greece". However, this situation is a complete fallacy, a well-known mistake. 

As is well known, the proverb "Galat-ı meşhur is better than lügat-ı fasi", which means "common mistakes are better than the correct language if the public has adopted it", was said precisely for "Greece". It has come to such a point that the words "Greek, Hellenic" are used interchangeably, with a differentiation of meaning, and, let's put it sincerely, these words are deliberately confused in favor of the "Megali Idea". Let us reiterate, the words "Greek and Greece" are the corrupted form of "Ionia". The name of the sea which is an extension of the Mediterranean Sea south of the Adriatic is "Ionian Sea or Ionian Sea or Ioannina Sea". The Ottomans mostly used the words "Greek and Greece" to refer to the people living north of this sea. On the other hand, "Ionia" was the name given in antiquity to the coastline of today's İzmir and Aydın provinces in Western Anatolia. The "Ionian" tribes, who fled their lands in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, founded cities such as "Ephesus and Miletus" in this region. This concept does not include "Hellenes and Greeks". However, Greece, with great alertness, declared the establishment of the "Ionian State" in Western Anatolia with a ceremony in Izmir on July 30, 1922. This state, with Izmir as its capital, was to cover an area of approximately eighteen thousand square kilometers and have a population of one and a half million. Before the establishment of the state was completed, Mustafa Kemal Pasha launched the great offensive on August 26, 1922, and exactly one month later, on August 30, the Greek army suffered a great defeat and began to flee towards İzmir. Along with the remnants of the Greek army who fled Anatolia by boarding ships from Izmir and its surroundings, the rulers of the newly established 'Ionian State' also boarded the ships and fled. (1) 

The people we insistently call "Greeks" define themselves as "Helen, Elen or Elias". However, this word is used today only by them.  "Helen, Elen or Elias", in short "Helen", refers to the tribes living in the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula and the ancient state and civilization they founded. For example, in Byzantine times it was used for "the region between Thessaloniki and Athens". Let us recall that the province created in this region in the 7th century was called "Hellas". (2) 

The word "Greek" means "slave", just like the word "Slav". The only difference is that while "Slav" is a general term for slavery, "Greek" is different in scope. For example, the Romans used the word "Greek" to mean "servant of the Latins, slave of the Latins". In other words, we can use the word "Greek" to mean "qualified slave" and "Slav" to mean "unqualified slave". The word "Serf", which was used in agriculture to mean a slave tied to the land, is also used today as "Service" to mean "service". For this reason, the names of "Greece" in the West are "Grecia, Grèce, Greece", which we use incorrectly. Are there people who use "Greek" in our country too? Yes. If you ask me, the word that should be used in Turkish should be "Grek" instead of "Greek" and "Grecia" instead of "Greece". (2) 

Another issue is the artificial Greek people who have been turned into an inflated ego as the cultural foundation of Western civilization and the expectation that Greece, in the status of a satellite state, will be backed by the West on the battlefield, or vice versa, that Greece will be a servant of the West as the word 'Greek' implies. I think the latter is in effect. On May 15, 1919, Greece landed in Izmir as the 'Sword of the Entente States' and was turned into the 'Sword of England' with the Treaty of Sevres. On August 10, 1920, with the Treaty of Sèvres imposed on the Ottoman Empire, it was decided that a section of 16 thousand square kilometers extending to Izmir and its surroundings, Manisa, Akhisar and Ayvalık with a population of 1 million would belong to Greece. In return for the blood of the people living on the other side of the water. However, the Anatolian Turks did not consent to this, they attempted armed resistance, and in the end it was Greece that suffered. Moreover, Greece has shown on every occasion that it is not satisfied with land. As an indication of this, the Greek army advanced and eventually captured a large area of one hundred thousand square kilometers, including Afyon, Kütahya, Eskişehir and Bursa, with a population of 3 million. 

The Anatolian Turks living in the lands left behind by foreign occupation, on the other hand, launched a War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha in order to prevent the implementation of the Treaty of Sevres, and were able to dump it into the Sea of Islands in front of the eyes of the Entente Navies anchored in the Gulf of Izmir. Although everything is so clear, what Greece cannot understand is the expectation that the US and France - let's say with their representatives today - will patronize Greece on the battlefield. Just as the US, the "Paper Tiger", as PRC Leader Mao described it, could not confront the RF, the US and France, Greece's Patrons, cannot confront Turkey, just as they did in the past. The conjunctural situation confirms this argument. 

The only treaty signed between Greece and Turkey that accepts territorial waters of 3 nautical miles (one nautical mile is 1,852 meters) is the Lausanne Peace Treaty. The Mudanya Armistice Treaty, which ended the war between Turkey and Greece in Western Anatolia, does not include Greece's signature. In the shadow of the Balkan Treaty and the Atatürk-Venizelos rapprochement, the extension of the territorial waters to 6 nautical miles was a de facto situation in which Turkey tried Turkey's patience. Greece's claim that its national airspace is 10 nautical miles wide in violation of international law and its abuse of its Flight Information Region (FIR) responsibility is the Continental Shelf issue. 

Another fundamental issue regarding maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean is the delimitation of the continental shelf boundary between Turkey and Greece. The boundaries of the continental shelf of Turkey and Greece in the Aegean have not yet been determined. At present, neither Turkey nor Greece has a delimited maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean beyond its territorial waters of 6 nautical miles. The main issue of the dispute is "the delimitation of the continental shelf of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, including areas beyond the 6 nautical mile territorial waters of the two coastal states". Another Aegean problem is the deterioration of the demilitarized status of the Eastern Aegean Islands to the detriment of Turkey within the framework of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the 1947 Treaty of Paris and other relevant international instruments, and the "Islands, Islets and Rocks whose sovereignty has not been transferred to Greece by Treaties" (EGEAYDAAK). 

In other words, these are the places that were not ceded to Greece by treaties, and therefore were forcibly taken under Greek sovereignty, despite the fact that they passed from the Ottoman Empire to Turkey in accordance with the principle of succession (succession). Another one is related to "Search and Rescue (SAR) Activities.  The dispute between Greece and Turkey over the search and rescue zones mainly stems from Greece's approach to the issue as a matter of sovereignty. (3)  

Greece, which is by far the superior country in creating problems, tends to recognize search and rescue zones designated to save human lives as areas of sovereignty. However, these areas, which should be in a purely humanitarian framework, are not sovereignty areas, but service areas. Greece, the architect of the "Harassment, Provocation, Threat and Defamation", "Harassment, Provocation, Threat and Defamation", "4 T's", which ignores international law and international treaties, which are integrated with the wind of the USA and France, has started a show of power on the eve of the elections. In fact, what they are trying to do is to put Turkey in the position of "aggressor", "aggressor" or "rogue state" by using all means available. Let us state this fact in capital letters. If Turkey and Greece were not NATO allies, believe me, they could have gone to war many times. In the last two years, Greece has made arms, vehicles, equipment, ammunition and hardware deals worth about 15 billion Euros, and has indebted the Greek electorate to their grandchildren on the way to the elections. In the islands it militarized and armed in violation of the Lausanne Treaty, Greece is doing its best to provoke Turkey by organizing new exercises, let alone stepping back. 

After the Ionian Sea, Greece is trying to declare 12 nautical miles south of Crete on January 18, 2023 in order to render the exclusive economic zone agreement signed between Turkey and Libya obsolete. The Greek media is completely focused on this point. Greece ratified the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on May 31, 1995 and at that time, based on the Convention, Greece wanted to extend its territorial waters in the Sea of Islands to 12 nautical miles. With the extension of the territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, Greece hopes to increase its sovereignty in the Sea of Islands from 40% to 70%, due to the many islands that it claims to own but is only granted the right to use. In this situation, which will obviously change the balance of interests in the Sea of Islands disproportionately to the detriment of Turkey, the size of the open sea will decrease from 51% to 19%, while Turkey's territorial waters will remain less than 10% of the Sea of Islands and Turkey will be confined to its own territorial waters. The Turkish Grand National Assembly of Turkey immediately reacted strongly to this initiative, which would drastically narrow its offshore areas in the Sea of Islands, and declared in a declaration read at its session on June 8, 1995 that any extension of Greece's territorial waters in the Aegean beyond 6 miles would be considered an "act of war" (casus belli). 

Within the framework of the "National Military Strategic Concept" (NMSC), the Republic of Turkey built its own "National Security and Defense Architecture" (MGSM) centered in Ankara and gave priority to domestic and national production. Within the scope of the MGSM, the weapons, ammunition, vehicles, equipment and hardware of the Turkish Armed Forces are produced in a concept-based requirements system according to the needs of the battlefield. The main battle tank ALTAY, the main combat tank, the main combat aircraft MMU, the main combat ship MİLGEM, the main combat submarine, the UCAV, TUAV, KIZILELMA and the multi-purpose amphibious ship ANADOLU are very important in this respect. Because during the Cyprus Peace Operation on July 20, 1974, the squad and company, which could not communicate with each other, stole the online AN-PRC 6 and 10 radios, and landed on the island with training tanks without armor. All these negativities were experienced with blood, tears and sweat. Let us note that Germany, which used Turkey's dependencies as weapons against us with its entry into NATO, does not even have ammunition. However, that Germany, which continued its support to PeKaKa for years, did not allow the use of rubber-tired armored vehicles and BTRs acquired from East Germany in Southeastern Anatolia during the most intense years of the fight against terrorism, and they inspected them through their MPs. 

Against the UK and the US, which use Cyprus and the island of Crete as an aircraft carrier, and against the RF, which has difficulties in using the Syrian airspace, Turkey has built new weapons, rocket and missile systems, and has embarked on a new force structure. In a possible war for air dominance in Syria and the Sea of Islands, Turkey does not even need to launch airplanes anymore.  

Contrary to popular belief, Turkey has made its biggest buildup in Thrace, and the Karaağaç Triangle on the other side of the Evros River has become a place of trust for friends and fear for Greece. The new generation Fırtına howitzers are designed as electric fully automatic. It has an improved fire control system, an increased rate of fire and an extended effective range. The range of the Fırtına-2 self-propelled howitzer has increased from 40 km to 65 km. The Turkish Armed Forces became the only armed forces in the world to hunt terrorists with howitzers. This development was achieved through the Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, Peace Spring and Spring Shield operations. Without permission to enter the airspace without flying airplanes on the battlefield, the TAF has gained the ability to take fire up to 65 kilometers in all directions. 

In addition to systems to protect ground troops against tank battles, new generation supersonic missile systems have also been developed. Although the range of the Typhoon has been tested at 561 km, its effective range is 1,000 km, and the range of the Lightning missile, which has not yet been mentioned much, is 3,000 km. Working together with the PRC since 2018, a system superior to the S-400 has been developed and Turkey no longer needs the Patriot missiles. 

When Greece declares 12 nautical miles as a fait accompli, the Turkish Navy should immediately launch a blockade operation against the islands close to and fed by Turkey. When this operation is implemented, it is evaluated that the Greek administration, which has entered the election atmosphere, will not be able to turn a deaf ear to the voices of the people living here.   

Our last word will be to Greece, which has handed over its country to the USA turnkey. Even in the Cyprus Peace Operation, Greece, which was ruled by a junta that could not move even during the Cyprus Peace Operation, is now being considered what it can do alone against Turkey, which has achieved self-sufficiency at the level of eighty percent. In this case, dear readers, we will see whether things will catch fire or Greece will burn. 

Footnotes

(1) Alptekin Müderrisoğlu, "A Short-Lived State Founded in Western Anatolia: Ionia", 

Journal of Atatürk Research Center; https://atamdergi.gov.tr/ozet/668/tur/ Accessed January 15, 2023/

(2) Esat Arslan, "Foreignpolitik Recognition of "Galatlar" Kırmızılar, April 19, 2019; https://www.kirmizilar.com/tr/index.php/guncel-yazilar3/4150-dispolitik-taninmada-galatlar/ Accessed on January 15, 2023/

(3) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, "Major Aegean Sea Problems"; https://www.mfa.gov.tr/baslica-ege-denizi-sorunlari.tr.mfa/ Accessed on January 15, 2023/