The target of the Athens trap approved by the USAGreece wants to legitimize the "islands it occupies" and expand the space of domination, Cumhuriyet writes.
That is why she pursued Turkish F-16s and used the S-300. According to the author of the article, this "Athens trap" was not without the participation of the United States.
Mehmet Ali GullerLet's imagine the real picture first.
For the United States, Greece is an ally, and Turkey is only a partner with whom they cooperate. So it was yesterday and so it will be today...
Tomorrow the gap will get even bigger. Because the US strategy is aimed at a "new iron curtain" from the Arctic Ocean to the Eastern Mediterranean. That's why they want to make Sweden and Finland members of NATO and are concentrating weapons in Greece.
Mitsotakis calculation
On the other hand, Athens wants to turn this into an opportunity and perpetuate its achievements, which have increased during the rule of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey. More specifically, Greece strategically wants to legitimize the islands it occupies, and then expand the space of dominance at sea and in the air, and tactically, the Mitsotakis government wants to win the elections, creating tension in relations with Turkey.
That is why Greece first pursued the Turkish F-16 escorting the American B-52 bomber over the Aegean Sea, and then the S-300 missile systems stationed in Crete pointed the radar at the Turkish planes...
Mitsotakis, claiming that "the United States has decided to increase its presence in Greece," expects to receive American support in the Turkish-Greek tensions and even achieve Turkey's isolation in NATO, provoking Ankara to activate the S-400. All this is supposed to be transformed into an election resource.
Washington's role
Well, does Washington know about Mitsotakis' calculations and the Athens trap? Of course, he knows, and moreover, apparently, approves of it.
The fact that the United States bypassed the issue of the pursuit of Turkish aircraft accompanying their bomber, and NATO, after warning Athens, deleted a congratulatory message on the occasion of Turkey's victory Day over Greece on August 30, also explains a lot.
Ultimately, for the US administration, these are small concessions in exchange for turning Greece into a military base from start to finish.
Erdogan complained to NATO
Of course, based on this, it is not necessary to conclude that the United States preferred Greece to Turkey. For Washington, Athens and Ankara are NATO's trump cards, which should not be preferred to one another, but used against each other.
In fact, the United States advocates maintaining constant tension between Ankara and Athens and, using this tension, constantly pushes both Ankara and Athens to a pro-American position.
Look at how the anti-S-400 lobby was stirred up by Erdogan's following words: "By capturing our plane, which was carrying out a NATO mission, on the radar of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, Greece defied NATO."
And, unfortunately, this excitement is quite justified. "To challenge NATO with the help of the Russian S-300" means, in a sense, to accept the theses of the United States opposing the S-400...
What should I do?
However, instead of "complaining to NATO," Ankara should have used the incident as an opportunity.
After all, this event proved that Greece actually activated the S-300, which it used only in exercises. Could the US not know this? So, for the United States, the fact of activation of the S-300 was not a hindrance to the sale of the F-35 to Greece.
Ankara should use the Athens trap with the S-300 to its advantage and give the S-400 legitimacy "at the NATO level." If there are no problems with the S-300, then there should be no problems with the S-400. The fact that the S-300s were purchased before the adoption of the law "On Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions" (CAATSA), in fact, does not change the important fact whether the Russian air defense system transmits the secrets of the F-35 to Moscow or not.
So Ankara, instead of complaining to the North Atlantic Alliance about the Greek S-300, should make it an excuse to use the S-400. Erdogan, on the contrary, preferred to start joint election work with Mitsotakis, resorting to the rhetoric of "we will come suddenly one night."
At the same time, the Turks and Greeks should really ask themselves this question: what is an American B-52 bomber doing in the Aegean (Turkish-Greek) Sea?
