Greece and Turkey, two neighbouring countries whose relations have historically been strained, approach the ongoing military action in Ukraine from completely different perspectives. Even though both are NATO members.
Greece has adopted the policy of NATO and the US from the very beginning. The Greek leadership have expressed strong anti-Russian sentiment, going so far as to say that Russian troops are allegedly killing people of Greek origin in Mariupol. This proves they fully accept the distorted view reproduced along the lines of Kyiv authorities and their Western political donors.
Turkey has adopted an even-handed approach to the Ukrainian issue. That is, by selling weapons to Kyiv, it continued to develop relations with Moscow and eventually succeeded in making itself the only "platform" for the preparation of processes for a peaceful settlement of the problem so far.
Greece is already filled with envy at Ankara's "conciliatory" stance. Athens could have tried on this role itself when in December 2021, during the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Sochi, Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested that Greece serve as a bridge between Russia and the West due to its special relationship with Moscow. But that never happened.
Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi in 2021
Photo: kremlin.ru
Since early May Athens and Ankara have been at a war of words. Athens talks openly about the extreme provocations of Turkey which keeps violating Greek airspace. Recently, Turkish planes flew close to the airspace of the city of Alexandroupolis, which hosts the largest US base, a transit point for getting US military equipment to Ukraine. There were more violations to follow in the northern area of the Aegean Sea when Chancellor Olaf Scholz was visiting Thessaloniki.
Greek analysts note that in both cases the US and the EU countries, from which Greece hopes to get protection, have not lifted a finger.
Yet President Erdogan allows himself to claim that there are now nine American bases in Greece instead of four. To his question about why Greece needs them, Prime Minister Mitsotakis replies that they are "against Russia."
But Erdogan is being economical with the truth about this. He is well aware that US bases on Greek territory, like those on Turkish territory, play no role in the bilateral tensions between Greece and Turkey. The US pacifies aggravated contradictions from time to time but does not participate on either side, only doing so to ensure NATO domination and US hegemony in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, as well as towards the Black Sea.
tankers, infantry, and scouts from 2-5 CAV, trained with their Greek Army counterparts during Operation Thracian Cooperation 21, in Greece
photo: militaryleak.com
The new US bases in Greece, which appeared after Athens and Washington signed a military agreement in the autumn of 2019, target Russia, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt announced at the base's opening ceremony in Alexandroupolis in December 2021. According to them, the base is supposed to "deter Russia". So Mitsotakis, unfortunately for Greek-Russian relations, is not lying.
Over the past four months, US military cargo ships have been arriving at the port of Alexandroupolis to unload large quantities of military equipment for delivery to Ukraine.
Most people in Greece fear, and so do many analysts, that the city of Alexandroupolis could become a target for Russian missiles aimed to destroy weapons which are sent to Ukraine. At the same time, 71% of Greeks surveyed oppose the supply of arms to Ukraine. In fact, about 55% of the citizens either support Russia's actions or show understanding about them.
Then-US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt accused Burisma of corruption in 2015
Photo: Getty Images
Against the backdrop of a serious deterioration in relations with Turkey, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Russia has always been there in times of need. The country's political leadership, which has put all its eggs in one American basket, contradicts much of the public. People do not want to swallow the Russophobic food prepared by transatlantic chefs.
Dimitris Lyacos - international journalist, PhD.
