Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu have been engaged in a warfare of nationalist and provocative statements over the Aegean. |
"Greece will do everything to prevent Turkey from getting to its territory", Greek Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos said Sunday, adding that Greece is ready to rebuff Ankara in a case of any provocation. After his statement, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called the Greek minister "a spoiled child".
Both Greece’s nationalist defence minister, head of the right-wing Eurosceptical Independent Greeks party, and Turkish government aim to incite sensibilities of their nationalist grassroots.
Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that if the Turks wanted to get to the disputed Kardak islets, known as Imia in Greece and located in the Aegean Sea between the Greek island chain of the Dodecanese and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey, they would have done this.
"It will never happen that they [the Turks] set foot on the Greek islands. We will prevent it from happening. If they do it, let's see how they will escape ... Any provocation will face counteraction," Kammenos said in an interview with the Skai TV channel.
A row over their sovereignty islets flared in January 1996, when the two countries sent marines to two neighbouring islands in a sign of an imminent armed confrontation.
The tensions around the islands renewed in January, following Greek refusal to extradite to Turkey eight servicemen, accused of involvement in the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, over concerns that they would not face a fair trial at home. The eight fled to Greece by military helicopter on the night of the putsch, which Turkey says was masterminded by the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
After Kammenos' remarks, speaking to reporters in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu accused Kammenos of using “provocative rhetoric”.
“We do not need a show of strength. They are the ones who know best what a Turkish soldier can do when appropriate. The government knows it best. Let them tell it to that spoiled child precisely. They should not try our patience,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) speak to Turkey's citizens, seeking to unite Turkish ultranationalists on the verge of the upcoming referendum. Turks are expected to vote in April in a potentially tight referendum on giving President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extra powers. With approximately two months before Turks vote on a critical referendum to enhance presidential powers, this renewed dispute is fuelling nationalistic sentiment inside Turkey. Nationalist rhetoric traditionally escalates in Turkey ahead of elections.
The uninhabited rocky specks, Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish, are a historic flare point in a long-running demarcation dispute.
A few weeks ago, the Communist Parties of Greece (KKE) and Turkey (TKP) issued statements in which they denounce the nationalist plans of the bourgeois classes of the two countries.
You can read here the statement by the Press Office of the CC of the KKE.
From its side, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) stated the following:
A few days ago, probably as a reprisal to the rejection of a request for the extraction of eight Turkish soldiers who had appealed to the Greek government for asylum after the 15 July coup attempt, Turkey’s Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar and army commanders visited Imia/Kardak Rocks with a military boat. Right after that, Greek Minister of Defense Panos Kammenos visited Imia/Kardak by air.
We know that the bourgeoisie of both countries try to take the attention of working people to Turkish/Greek tension and provoke issues whenever they have hard time within their countries. In addition, the bourgeoisie of both countries cultivate expansionist tendencies when appropriate. The membership of Turkey and Greece to NATO and their relation to the tactics of imperialism over the Aegean Sea do not pose an obstacle against those nationalist provocation.
However, the working class of Turkey and Greece is determined to fail this game and turn the Aegean Sea into a fraternity and collaboration sea by cleansing it from imperialist powers under socialist rule.