Why are these two NATO
allies at each other’s throat?
The answer is simple- hydrocarbon
reserves underneath the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The answer is complicated –
a few months ago during Pentagon discussions it was decided to have these two
NATO members go to war. For reasons not known to the public, the U.S. would
benefit from a conflict between two NATO members.
For Turkey it is simple.
They are trying to explore natural gas and petroleum reserves in the
internationally and lawfully recognized waters on its seashore. This is the
same area that Greece claims is theirs.
How can Greece claim it belongs to them? Here is how.
There is an island off the
coast of Turkey called Meis Island. Its distance from the Turkish coastline is
2.4 kilometers (1.49 miles). Meis Island is 578 miles from Greece’s coast line. The island is about 10 square
kilometers and Greece is claiming 40,000 square kilometers of maritime
jurisdiction for just a 10 kilometer square island.
There are many examples of
international court rulings in similar matters. One of which involved the channel
islands of the coast of France that belongs to the UK. The international court
ruled that islands have some maritime area surrounding them but any mainland has
200 miles of offshore maritime jurisdiction.
Turkey is currently doing
seismic exploration in the hotly contested area. Greece is harassing their ships.
Why? Greece knows that if it takes Turkey to international court it will lose.
So what happened? France
showed up to support Greece which escalated tensions in the area. Their hope
was that Turkish warships would shoot at one of the Greek ships or war planes
which would get the UN involved bringing Turkey into negotiations.
Who else is behind all of
this? The U.S., France, EU, UAE, Israel, and Southern Cyprus. We can include
Egypt as well.
Greece has no business in the Eastern Mediterranean because it has no coastline. The problem started when Israel, Southern Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt decided they are going to take all of the hydrocarbon out of the Mediterranean and completely exclude Turkey who has a longer shoreline than any of these countries.
Turkey counter-acts by
making a deal with Libya which combines both Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction
with Libya’s maritime jurisdiction effectively excluding everyone else from
that area.
Here are the violations Greece has committed to date-
1- Greece has six miles of maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea but it claims ten miles of air space. This is a ridiculous claim as there is no international law to support this.
2- Greece claims the entire Aegean Sea is theirs. Again a ridiculous claim.
3- Greece has committed human rights violations with its treatment of Turkish Muslim minorities in Western Thrace.
4- Greece is responsible for the deaths of many migrants who have attempted to cross the Aegean Sea. How? Greeks simply shoot the migrants trying to cross their territory.
5- Greece allows the PKK and FETO terrorists to reside in Greece.
6- Greece has enormous economic
problems such that they cannot repay their debt to Germany until 2060. It’s no
wonder that the EU is tired of Greece’s burden on Europe.
Interestingly when Henry
Kissinger was Secretary of State he said whenever he went to Athens the Greeks were
always complaining to him about the Turks. When he went to Ankara the Turks
never mentioned any complaints against the Greeks.
So what do the Greeks continue to do even today? They go around the world and complain and tell tall lies about Turkey. Frankly Americans are tired of the Greeks and the Europeans are tired of the Greeks. But the EU and the U.S. use the Greeks whenever they have issues with Turkey.
Neither
the EU nor the U.S. want Turkey to become more economically powerful. Why? Because
if Turkey finds natural gas and petroleum in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea it
will pay all its foreign debts and become both economically independent and an
economic powerhouse.
Behcet Kaya