Turkish media have accused Greek media of escalating what they call “paranoia” toward Turkey, first over defense systems and now over property and infrastructure investments.
According to a commentary by Tahsin Han in the Turkish daily Yeni Akit, Greek outlets that routinely portray every new Turkish-made weapon as an existential threat have turned their attention to real-estate purchases. They claim Turkish citizens and companies are buying property “everywhere” — from the Evros border region and Aegean islands to the Ionian Sea — and warn that “our properties are being lost one by one while the government and authorities do nothing.”
One Greek site singled out by the Turkish report, EuroPost, is described as creating a climate of panic. It compared Turkish investments to a storm and an octopus net engulfing the country, asserting that vast areas stretching from Evros to strategic Aegean islands, and from Athens and Piraeus to Lefkada in the Ionian, have been acquired by Turks.
The same outlet is said to accuse the Mitsotakis government of ignoring national-security criteria that were once applied even to smaller deals, such as a past Qatari interest in a small Ionian island that required approval from the defense minister and Greece’s intelligence service.
Particular attention is given to Lesbos. Greek reports claim the strategically important marina there has come under the control of the Koç Group, headed by Rahmi Koç, who is portrayed as close to President Erdoğan.
Turkish buyers are said to be acquiring large tracts of land, hotels, villas, farms, shops and tourism businesses on the island, while whispering to locals weary of Athens’ neglect and economic difficulties: “Athens is far away; we are right next door and we bring development.”
Similar patterns are alleged on Leros, Kos and Samos.
In Evros, the same Greek coverage is said to claim that villages in central and northern parts of the region (excluding Alexandroupoli) are being sold en masse. Turkish investors, along with members of the Turkish minority from Kardzhali in southern Bulgaria who hold Bulgarian passports, are reportedly buying border properties at very low prices. The same groups are linked to the marina on Lefkada, the Zea marina in Piraeus, and the purchase and renovation of older hotels and buildings in central Athens.
The claims extend to agriculture in Thrace and eastern and central Macedonia. A significant share of tobacco and fruit production is said to have been bought by businessman Levent Sadık, son of the late Sadık Ahmet (described in the Greek reports as an “anti-Greek Turkish nationalist” and founder of the DEB party).
EuroPost is further accused of asserting that DEB operates under direct instructions from the Turkish consulate in Komotini as “Erdoğan agents” driven by irredentist aims, and that Turkish capital is placing Greece in an economic and geopolitical stranglehold.
READ MORE: EU freezes Russian oil price cap for a year, grants Greece LNG exemption in new sanctions package.