Greek Discourses Based on Militarization in the Aegean

Can there be a solution with Greece? Or can a solution be reached using military force? Say what? It seems to me that it's actually not both? If your interlocutor is Greece and/or the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GKRK), you don't need to say anything, the third option comes up by itself. Insolubility. Want an example? Here is the example. The historical Aegean problem, here is the Cyprus problem that has been going on for forty-six years. In fact, it's not even a problem, you can call it problematic. These two problems are so problematic that it is the motto of Greece and/or GKRK not to approach a solution even if all kinds of conditions are suitable. Here's a fix for you. The current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the TRNC Prof. Dr. As Kudret Özersay said at a scientific meeting, “We made the tables round, we even changed the chairs we sit on. We changed all the physical and environmental conditions, but in vain.” Did not it work? It is not happening. Here it is necessary to express something in capital letters. Since the War of Independence, the name of the struggle is not with Greece. Today, the EU carries out operations to Turkey via Greece. Greece has never been able to realize this fact. As Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, succinctly put it, it is not only Greece that is against Turkey in the Lausanne Peace Treaty, but also seven heifers, seven states. Most of them are now members of the UN Security Council. Let's not forget, the representatives of the Greek Army, which the Turkish Grand National Assembly Armies poured into the sea on September 9, 1922, are not against us in the Mudanya Ceasefire Ceasefire. İsmet İnönü on behalf of the GNAT Government, General Harrington on behalf of the British, General Charpy on behalf of France, and General Mombelli on behalf of Italy participated in the meetings. Look, you can't find Greece's signature under the ceasefire agreement. The negotiations and the agreement were made in the house of the Russian Trader Alexander Ganyanof, which is one of the rare surviving buildings in Mudanya. This is also extremely interesting. The Russians hosted Greece was not present at the signing ceremony of the Mudanya Armistice Release on October 11, 1922. The Armistice of Mudanya was signed between Turkey and the three Entente Powers England, France and Italy on October 11, 1922 at 06:00 and entered into force 3 days after it was signed. In the Mudanya Armistice negotiations, which started on October 3, 1922, the Greek delegates transferred their responsibilities to England from the beginning, and they were content to watch the signing ceremony from the window of a British-flagged yacht. As much as they can see. What a humiliating situation, isn't it, dear readers? Those who took the Greek Nation into adventure for the Allies and shed their blood could not even confront Turkey after the Asia Minor Defeat. Later, death stands were set up in Athens.
The 'United Nations Treaty' signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and entered into force in our country after the Approval Law No. 4801 was published in the Official Gazette No. 6902 on August 24, 1945, allows for a solution between Turkey and Greece. Article 33 sets the framework for arbitration and legal treaties in international disputes, and article 13 gives the task of finding peaceful solutions and supporting the development and enactment of international law. In fact, the parties to a conflict whose continuation may endanger the preservation of international peace and security, first of all, resolve it through negotiation, investigation, mediation, reconciliation, arbitration and judicial resolution, by resorting to regional organizations or agreements or by other means of their own choice. There is a commanding provision stating that the Security Council, when it deems necessary, will call on the parties to resolve the dispute between them through such means. But what the hell. Very interesting. The five members of the Security Council, who were supposed to be the pioneers of the solution, took their place in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean to justify the cause. Oh, by the way, it should not be forgotten that the EU leader Germany, who has openly declared that it is on the side of Greece, seems to have taken its place in this collusive game. The mysterious word that Germany has come up with on this subject is the 'Schuman declaration'. The main aim of the declaration is to unite and integrate a Europe that is exhausted and collapsed after the Second World War. The Schuman Declaration is a proposal read by Robert Schuman, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, on May 9, 1950 and envisaging to unite the coal/steel industries of France and West Germany under one roof. Like today's natural gas, coal is also an energy source. Sharing has been seen as an integrating and unifying element in the context of sharing. But the main issue is the Europeanization of Germany. Because Germany tried to Germanize Europe during the Second World War. In line with this plan Not pressure to control mania, but joining Germany to Europe was put forward as a solution. Germany welcomed this plan as it would achieve a coal-steel control equal to that of other countries and would be freed from intense control. France, on the other hand, accepted this plan, seeing that the pressures on Germany would decrease sooner or later and Germany would stand on its feet again. However, today's plan is a matter of Germany getting a share from the Eastern Mediterranean under the guise of Greece. However, the USA is aware of this fact and according to it, it intensifies its actions.
Since its establishment, Greece, which is an artificial nation-state, has made it a principle to resort to the classical maneuver of first causing problems to gain territory from Turkey, internationalizing these problems first and foremost, and forming a front against Turkey by finding allies. This is an obvious and living reality. Now, let's express another fact by emphasizing it. The EU(D) wants to imprison Turkey in its territorial waters and in other words, to cut it off from the Mediterranean. Another important point to be noted is the fact that RF is still under the siege of the EU(D). The EU High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expresses it openly without being in a diplomatic language. Although they say 'We have nothing to do with the map', the maps that squeeze Turkey into Anatolia from the west and south are currently used in all EU websites and documents. Sir, this is not just an energy struggle, it is a serious geopolitical compression, it is a struggle to separate Turkey from the Mediterranean and the Aegean.
This statement is really important. As can be seen, the classical "dual containment" policy of the cold war period has now left its place to geopolitical compression for the Republic of Turkey. Do you see the point reached?
As long as the EU(D), which clearly shows its side and course of action, continues its stance, Turkey and RF will get closer, and it may even go as far as the collapse of NATO, even if it is not wanted. The collapse of NATO means the collapse of the famous "Edge Belt Theory" of the American geopolitician Spykman. Undoubtedly, although RF and PRC, the two representatives of this Eurasian view, may be useful, it is an undoubted fact that the EU(D) will not. In addition, 65 percent of RF's foreign trade, Greece as a maritime country, and even most of the maritime trade of the Greek Cypriot Administration passes through the Aegean and Turkish Straits. This argument has not yet been used by Turkey as a deterrent.
In response to an operation by the Turkish Armed Forces from Thrace, the USA, which broke new bases from Greece in Alexandroupoli and Kavala, has openly taken a side with Greece. Another benefit of this is the change in attitude towards the GKRK. The lifting of the embargo placed on the GASC 33 years ago during President Reagan's reign and the promise of support to the Greek Cypriot Administration by Trump have been the outcome of today's environment. All these are pressure parameters used against Turkey. However, Turkey is not the old Turkey. A Turkey that sits sluggishly in front of US President Donald Trump and gives the appearance of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is not at all. With what diplomatic courtesy can you explain Vucic being seated in a chair in front of Trump's desk prior to the press conference, which is. Both Macron and Putin are passengers of the same compartment. What you watch on TV screens. Do you think it is possible to digest Macron's treatment of Lebanese President Micheal Aun and Putin's treatment of Bashar Assad?
Yes, Turkey has formed a fleet of three seismic research vessels and two modern drilling vessels in a very short time. This fleet is an important force that stands up to unfounded, baseless challenges. Turkey is able to eliminate all these so-called challenges instantly. Just as the Republic of Turkey has NATO's largest land force after the USA, the Turkish Naval Forces, which is the guarantee of Mavi Vatan, is the eighth rank in the world, and NATO's third rank dedicated force to NATO. Retired Rear Admiral Gürdeniz's statement to the Hürriyet newspaper on September 4, 2020 clearly describes this as follows:
“If a war broke out with Greece today, a week later, Greece would lose everything it has gained from Turkey so far. I do not even compare our strengths.”[1]
Now, let's discuss the problems with Greece, which have evolved into insolvency over time, one by one. According to foreign sources, the main problem regarding the Aegean is related to the legal status of some geographical formations. The debate on extending the Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, which has been going on for years despite Turkey's various objections, has gone as far as the cause of war if it is done in the way it was concluded in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The ignition of the war fuse is the decision of 12 miles of territorial waters, starting from the exit point of the illegal islands, which the Greek Parliament will directly take, also have a continental shelf. Currently, many are in illegal “de facto” situations. Greece's territorial waters make up 40 percent of the Aegean Sea, due to the islands it has. If the territorial sea is increased to 12 nautical miles, this rate rises to 70 percent. In this case, the size of the open sea of ​​the Aegean Sea decreases from 51 percent to 19 percent, while Turkey's territorial waters remain less than 10 percent of the Aegean Sea. The boundaries of the continental shelf belonging to Turkey and Greece in the Aegean have not yet been determined. Currently, neither Turkey nor Greece have a delimited maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean beyond their territorial waters at a distance of 6 nautical miles. In order to make progress on the problems in the Aegean, with the initiative of Turkey, the phase of exploratory negotiations was started in 2002. The word "exploratory", which is used as a diplomatic term, came to the fore for the negotiations with Greece on the Aegean Sea. What has been done so far on reconciliation? The main consensus in the "exploratory" Aegean talks between Turkey and Greece was that "without reaching agreement on every issue, nothing will be deemed to have been agreed" and "no information will be leaked about the talks". Since 2002, not a single piece of information has leaked about the talks held at the level of Under-Secretaries at least twice a year. So the most important answer to this is the fact that for eighteen years, there has been no progress. Problems were put in the refrigerator and left to be unsolved.
Another Aegean problem is Greece's claiming that its national airspace is 10 nautical miles wide, in violation of international law, and exploiting the Flight Information Area (FIR) responsibility. Another category of Aegean problems is related to Search and Rescue (SAR) Activities. The Republic of Turkey believes that all problems should be handled as a whole and works to resolve Aegean problems by peaceful means on a bilateral political ground in accordance with International Law. However, it is almost impossible to sit at the same table with Greece.
Another important issue of the Aegean problematic, which is integrated with the continental shelf issue caused by Greece, is the issue of the demilitarization of the Eastern Aegean Islands by Greece within the framework of the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, the 1947 Paris Agreement and other relevant international documents. By ignoring these agreements, Greece is arming the islands it occupies as if to appeal to the whole world public opinion, and continues to arm without interruption. The latest pictures of the staff of the Greek National Guard, which was sent to the island of Meis on a tourist ship, confirm this claim.
The belonging of some islets and reefs in the Aegean and the lack of maritime borders determined by a valid international agreement between Turkey and Greece are among these problems. Although the maritime border between Turkey and Greece has not yet been determined by an agreement, Greece occupied 18 islands in the Aegean Sea in violation of international agreements and strengthened these places with military fortifications. The Greek Church, which owns one third of the Greek territory, plays a leading role in this regard. The names of the 17 islands occupied by Greece, most of them Turkish, are as follows:
“Ardacık, Slurry, Donkey, Formoz, Hurşit, Goat, Koçbaba, Sheep, Nergizcik, Sakarcılar, Kalolimnoz, Gavdos, Dhia, Dionisades, Gaidhouronisi, Koufonisi, Venetian rocks”.
The 18th island occupied by Greece in the Aegean Sea, 'Marathi Island', was registered as a 'Turkish Island' and by name by the Turkish Government in 1933, with an application to the League of Nations. It is necessary to act cautiously in this regard. Why? The reason is clear. Greece bases its illegitimate existence in the Aegean Islands occupied by Turkey on the "adverse possession" rule. What is this rule? The attempt of “negative appropriation” by means of a kind of “adverse possession” of Greece by fait accomplis the islands belonging to the state of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish nation falls within the mandate of the United Nations. The rule in "Negative Possession" arises from knowing that any property will result in favor of the owner in the international jurisdictions applied for, if no objection is made after 12 years. In this regard, Greece surprisingly shows the world public opinion the international judiciary as the solution authority.
However, at present, the width of the territorial seas of both Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea is 6 nautical miles. The geographical location of the coasts of Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea are next to each other and at the same time, which makes a limitation necessary. It is a fundamental rule of international law that the boundaries of sea areas between close or opposite locations where maritime areas intersect or converge should be determined by agreement.
The most important criterion of deterrence, The means in your life, the power can produce an effect and the result can be obtained. The other two of the three important elements of the strategy outside of force in deterrence are time and space. When the time and place element is not used in the desired place and time criteria, the effect of deterrence decreases. If the escalating tension between Turkey and Greece turns into a war, the winning side can only yield as much as a Pyrrhic Victory. The victory of conventional warfare, the Pyrrhic Victory, is a victory at the cost of devastating losses. At the same time, it means that the victory won becomes meaningless after the losses.
In the face of this situation, Turkish diplomacy is based on "Domestic Diplomacy", like the domestic maneuver, which is the most used and used by the soldiers in the war. Fulfilling the requirements of the Hybrid Warfare technique is essential for the success and safety of the Turkish Armed Forces, which moves on an axis of 2,500 km from the Iraqi Border to Libya. Because the most basic approach that constitutes the philosophy of hybrid warfare is to avoid predictable behaviors and to gain advantage with unexpected movements by using all kinds of attacks. The fact that while two friends can be made on the axis in some places, it can be encountered in another place enriches this policy.
[1] Fulya Soybaş, “Will there be a war with Greece?”, Hürriyet Newspaper, p. 22