Greece is turning into a US base

In recent years, the Greece–Greek Cypriot Administration duo has moved closer to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The agreements Greece has signed with France and the US in recent years have also drawn attention. It is clear that Greece will continue to take anti-Turkey steps while promising to take steps toward normalizing its relations with Turkey. 

Because Greece either does not comply with agreements, complies only with the articles it wants, or interprets the articles as it wishes. Indeed, it has been arming the islands that were demilitarized according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris for years, clearly violating the treaties. Furthermore, it has landed troops on and occupied 20 islands and 2 islets belonging to Turkey. Keeping the issue constantly on the agenda, retired Staff Colonel Ümit Yalım, former Secretary General of the Ministry of National Defense, has stated that Greece has raised both Greek and Byzantine flags on the islands it has occupied. 

Greece is part of every kind of anti-Turkey alliance. It both voices the anti-Turkey theses of the US and the European Union and ensures that the US and EU adopt and voice its own theses. It is always against Turkey, not only in issues between Turkey and Greece but in all issues where Turkey is a party. For example, it has recognized the so-called genocide claims and supports the PKK–PYD–FETÖ terrorist organizations. 

WHO IS GREECE ARMING AGAINST?

The military agreements Greece signed with France and subsequently the US have also drawn attention. This military cooperation with the US and France—both NATO members, both nuclear-armed, and both permanent members of the UN Security Council—is a first within the scope of NATO and requires explanation. Because Greece is also a NATO member. The answer to the question of who Greece is making these agreements against is clear. That country is Turkey. 

While doing these, Greece is turning into a US base. To the US, which will establish bases in Crete, Alexandroupoli, Kavala, Thessaloniki, and Volos, the air and naval base on the island of Skyros has also been opened. The US is pleased with this policy of Athens. Because while Greece takes anti-Turkey steps, the US is making moves on a larger scale. It is both encircling Turkey, containing Russia, and trying to block China—which has made large investments in Greece's Port of Piraeus—by building up forces in Greece, which is an important route within the scope of China's Belt and Road Initiative. 

Greece, which wants to increase its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea from 6 to 12 miles, does not dare to do so because Turkey has declared that it would consider such a step a cause for war (casus belli). However, it is taking many steps against Turkey. While taking these steps, it acts as a satellite, an extension, and a hitman for the US and the EU. It is benefiting from the anti-Turk and anti-Turkey sentiment in the West, just as it did 100 years ago. For example, Greece, which is not an Eastern Mediterranean country, is part of all anti-Turkey alliances there as well. 

GREECE IS THE HITMAN OF IMPERIALISM

Greece claims that its own islands have continental shelves and exclusive economic zones (EEZ), even though mainlands, not islands, are taken as the basis in the sharing of maritime jurisdiction areas. This claim is baseless. Moreover, Greece is not an island nation like Japan, Indonesia, or the Philippines. It is a country that has islands. It is a peninsula country, just like Turkey. 

The foreign policy pursued by Greece is also quite costly economically. It is increasing its military, political, financial, diplomatic, and technological dependence on the US and France. It is practically opening Greek territory to US occupation voluntarily. Considering the difficult situation of the Greek economy, its purchase of Rafale fighter jets worth 2.32 billion Euros and warships (3 frigates, 3 corvettes) worth 4.5 billion Euros from France is seen to require explanation. While the US announced that it would provide 134 million dollars in military support to Greece between 2022 and 2026, it also promised to sell 24 F-35 fighter jets. 

While the US increases its support for Greece, it has not neglected the Greek Cypriot Administration. It has supported the Israel-Greece-South Cyprus rapprochement and lifted the military embargo it had imposed on the Greek Cypriot Administration since 1987 in 2020. It has also signed a cooperation agreement on military matters. This attitude of the US, among other reasons, is also directed at Turkey's policies in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

In conclusion, if the steps Greece has taken in the Aegean Sea, in Cyprus, and in the Eastern Mediterranean are explained only by this country's anti-Turkey stance, it remains incomplete. On a larger scale, it is essentially the anti-Turkey stance of imperialism that we need to focus on. Greece, while acting against Turkey today as it did in the past, is leaning on imperialist powers and acting as a hitman for the imperialists.