Turkey's ruling party, and even much of the opposition, seem intent on, if not obsessed with, invading and conquering these Greek islands, on the grounds that they are actually Turkish territory.
"The things we have done so far [pale in comparison to the] even greater attempts and attacks [we are planning for] the coming days, inshallah [Allah willing]." – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, February 12, 2018.
The head of the state-funded Directorate of Religious Affairs, the Diyanet, has openly described Turkey's recent military invasion of Afrin as "jihad." This designation makes sense when one considers that Muslim Turks owe their demographic majority in Asia Minor to centuries of Turkish persecution and discrimination against the Christian, Yazidi and Jewish inhabitants of the area.
In an incident that took place less than two weeks after the Greek Defense Ministry announced that Turkey had violated Greek airspace 138 times in a single day, a Turkish coast guard patrol boat on February 13 rammed a Greek coast guard vessel off the shore of Imia, one of many Greek islands over which Turkey claims sovereignty.
Most of the areas within modern Greece's current borders were under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-15th century until the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1832. The islands, however, like the rest of Greece, are legally and historically Greek, as their names indicate.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1...reece-invasion
Tsipras issues rare WAR WARNING as tensions mount
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said today Greece would not tolerate any move from Turkey after Turkish and Greek coastguard vessels collided close to disputed islets in the Aegean Sea.
He said: "Our message, now, tomorrow and always, is clear... Greece will not allow, accept or tolerate any challenge to its territorial integrity and its sovereign rights."
"Greece is not a country which plays games," Tsipras told an audience at the country's shipping ministry.
The collision involving the two vessels occurred on Monday evening off Imia, known as Kardak in Turkish. Each side blamed the other for the incident.
Turkey and Greece, NATO allies, have been at odds over a host of issues from ethnically split Cyprus to sovereignty over airspace and overflights.
They came to the brink of war in 1996 in a sovereignty dispute over the islets, but tensions have eased since.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...pras-territory
My hope is Greece makes wrecks of every Turk plane and ship.
Bookmarks