The Patriot air defense missile system. [File photo]
Once the situation in the Persian Gulf has calmed down, the Turkish government will turn its attention to the Aegean Sea and Cyprus and Greece’s perceived exploitation of the war in the Middle East to boost its defenses near Turkey, officials in Ankara said.
A senior Turkish diplomat said Ankara will call for the steps taken in the Aegean and Cyprus to be “reversed” once the war in the Gulf and the subsequent negotiations are over. “Our ministries of foreign affairs and defense will swivel their full attention to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean,” the diplomat said.
The diplomat highlighted Greece’s deployment of Patriot air defense missiles to the island of Karpathos and the Evros border region, saying Ankara would insist that they should return to their original locations, where they were before the Gulf war erupted.
Officials in Ankara believe that Athens is trying to change the status quo in the Aegean to its advantage. They see the deployment of Greek F-16 jets to Cyprus as a lesser problem, as on the one hand Greece is one of Cyprus’ guarantor powers and on the other Turkey holds a strategic advantage in the region.
Nevertheless, Turkey is particularly incensed at the strong French and Israeli military footprint on Cyprus.
An important official in Turkey’s governing party expressed the belief that “the next conflict in the region may be on Cyprus, as Turkey cannot allow the current situation to continue, mostly concerning the cooperation and presence of Israel on the island, and will react.”
“Israel wants to move the conflict there, as it believes it would have the advantage in an aerial and naval confrontation, while in Syria such a confrontation would involve greater difficulties,” the important official said. “Cyprus is a crucial point. Also, the presence of France there will cause further reactions.”
Another experienced diplomat said an effort might be made to resolve the Cyprus issue, but if that proves fruitless then Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership “will weigh the situation and will be able to take important decisions on the next step.”
“Do not rule out the possibility of a decision to declare [the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north] as Turkey’s 82nd city,” the experienced diplomat said, adding that the situation has changed since 1983, when Turkey avoided making such a move, as it will currently not accept being “made a fool of” for so many years.