Look at what Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, has been saying:
“The reason Greece is becoming much more aggressive is the fact that they fail to bring about a legal explanation over why they are arming the islands in the Aegean.”
“Greece should disarm these islands. If not, the sovereignty of these islands will be open to discussion. That’s what we clearly tell Greece.”
“They probably think that they won’t be able to satisfy their people if they don’t attack against us. I cannot see any other reason, this stems from an inferiority complex.”
“Because they cannot respond legally, they get nervous, they give stupid answers, they demagogue. They say ‘Turkey wants to take our islands,’ Greek politicians have an inferiority complex. I do not make attacks on Greece every day. Our people have no such expectations. If this situation continues, the sovereignty over the islands will be discussed.”
I quote the above statements of the Turkish Foreign Minister from a few days ago because I consider it necessary for everyone to know them – unaltered, unchanged, exactly as they are.
Otherwise, simply hearing them, one must doubt their accuracy – that is how extreme they are.
The Turkish Minister, in a press conference he gave with his counterpart from Northern Macedonia(!), reiterated his demand for the “demilitarization of the islands”. Again, Çavuşoğlu said: “Greece should disarm these islands. If not, the sovereignty of these islands will be open to discussion. That’s what we clearly tell Greece.”
As I have noted in the past, such statements are not an outburst of anger, they are not without thought and planning. On the contrary, they are the expression of the policy of the Security Council of Turkey and for this reason they should be taken very seriously.
Still, their frequency is likely to surprise many, along with the gradual but obvious sharpening of the claims.
What can we conclude from this?
Can we conclude that the purpose of the statements is to prepare the public for something they are preparing for in the near future? Like an attack? We cannot be sure. It is clear, however, that they are preparing for something. For something not pleasant.