First on the fox: The expansionist speech was a great concern in NATO for several years amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but according to senior defense officials in Greece, the security coalition must take similar threats from within its alliance,, In particular from Türkiye.
Dieces for decades on the Cyprus island between Greece and Turkey, both of whom have been members of NATO since 1952, The alliance was afflicted For more than half a century and pushing falling conflicts to almost the two countries to the edge of the war in the 1990s.
Although the relations between Greece and Turkey have become less aggressive in recent years, Erdogan's endeavor to regional natural resources along with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and the Aegean Sea have long have received criticism that he is looking forward to “re -establishing” the Ottoman Empire.
Nicos Dinidia, the Minister of National Defense of Greece, gives a speech on the independence of Greece in Athens, March 25, 2024. (Giorgos Arapekos/Nurphoto via Getty Images)
“There are some people in Turkey who return to the Ottoman times and believe that they can re -establish the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half the Caucasus, etc., etc. Defense Minister Nicos Dinidis said during an interview with Fox News Digital.
“I hope this is the dreams of vigilance, but it creates a lot of problems in relations with Greece, and a lot of problems within NATO.”
Erdogan, which was President of Türkiye Since 2014, he has been long criticized for his aggressive approach to dealing with regional countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his repressive practices at home that targeted non -Sunni societies, including Shiites, Christians, journalists, women and women. . It is an issue that not only prevented Türkiye from joining the European Union, but was also increasingly geopolitical repercussions for the United States
The main ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself at the Ankara intersection as it looks at the Kurdish force as closer to A terrorist network, the Kurdistan Labor Party (PKK).
Türkiye has routinely targeted the group and pushed international concern about how SDF was able to continue to fight ISIS effectively if the Trump administration withdraws the American forces from Syria.
American forces provide military training for YPG/SDF members, which Turkey considers an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli area in the Al -Husaya district in Syria on August 18, 2023. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“ISIS, let us be honest and honest, does not collapse but not out,” said Dendias. “The ideology behind ISIS, an ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood, there is alive and kick.
“I must say, the worst thing you can do in life is to forget your allies, forget the people who fought next to you at the hour of your need, and to switch against them or forget them,” the Minister of Defense continued. “I am talking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. The West should not forget.”
The fall of the Bashar al -Assad regime Renewed concerns about regional stabilityThe close dynamic between Trump and Erdogan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president follows his regional ambitions.
Dendias has argued that the close relationship that is claimed to be common to the leaders of the world will not necessarily encourage Erdogan and can put Trump uniquely “on the whisper” in the permission of the Turkish leader and reminds him that “international law, (rules) of the sea is a means of life in this modern world.”
“I assume it will not be good at all for NATO and will not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a major problem on the eastern front of NATO, taking into account what is happening in the center as well as east and what is happening between Russia and Ukraine,” the defense added.
The Blue Homeland-2015 exercise, organized by the Turkish Navy Command in the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the eastern Mediterranean, began on January 8, 2025, in Mugla, Turkey. (Sabri Kesen/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Earlier this month, Turkey re -launching military exercises in the Black Seas and the Mediterranean Sea known as “Blue Homeland”, which Greece has long considered as a display of force and pushed long maritime conflicts to appear.
“This is (it is) a new new Turkish approach, New Ontoni.” “It has begun to appear somewhere in the first decade of the twenty -first century … which, in essence, claims that half Greek islands in the Aegge Sea It belongs to Türkiye.
President Donald Trump speaks during his first presidency with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, upon their arrival to obtain a family photo at a summit of state and government heads at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivis, File)
“Sometimes they go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with a NATO, is very important and an American base in Suda – again, it should belong to Türkiye.”
The Ministry of Defense said that Greece's strained relations with Turkey made its defensive situation in NATO unique because it forced Athens to be at the top of its defensive spending, a issue that has become once again the issue of a higher discussion in the NATO coalition because of Trump clicking to make all countries meet the limit of local product spending The total of 5 %, an increase of 2 %.
The latest NATO spending numbers that were released in June 2024 were offered to be offered to the fifth Supreme Supreme Defense in the Alliance, spent more than 3 % of GPD, while Turkey came on eighteen and spent slightly more than 2 % of GDP for defense.
Ankara, Turkey- May 13: Prime Minister Kiriacos Mitsotakis (L) from Greece, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from Turkey, shakes a press conference after their meeting on May 13, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. (Yavoz Ozden/ Dia Pictures via Getti Emoz)
Dendias said that European countries need to collectively agree on how to see security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.
“Regardless of President Trump's position in 5 %, it is an internal issue and must be resolved.”
“The biggest threat is countries that do not adhere to international law and do not adhere to the international law of the sea. Countries that believe that the borders are (something you can ignore, that international treaties and treaties should work only if this is the advantage,” Dendias said. “This is the biggest threat For the whole world, not only Greece. “
There were no additional questions about the branches about President Trump's recent comments on his refusal to exclude military intervention in Greenland and the Panama channel has not been answered.
The Turkish embassy in Washington, DC, did not answer the Fox News Digital questions, but instead indicated a statement issued by the Turkish National Defense Minister, Yassar Guller, who accepted the exercises of the “Blue Home”, in our country, is located in our country, that the heart of an area surrounded by conflicts And conflicts constantly emphasize its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tension and resolving crises.
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“We are dealing with the development of our relations with our Greek neighbor in this context and taking important steps towards solving problems,” he added. “The efforts made to photograph Türkiye's decision to protect its rights and interests in the” Blue Women “as” historical expansion and aggression “is nothing more than a useless attempt to ignore the rights granted to Turkey under international law.
“However, while we are striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly confirm that we will never give up our national rights and interests,” said Guller earlier this month.
