So It Begins: Turkey Warns Greece Against Oil Exploration In The Aegean, Turkish experts accuse Greece of illegally snatching 16 islands

Coz we're full on the land army dept, we don't need them, something on the navy or airforce dept would be nice and appreciated but we don't need something like tanks, there's no chance that we'll ever fight a land war anytime soon, no one can invade us from land because of the mountainous terrain, not even Turkey, we're pretty safe on the land dept. We can have them maybe since they're free but we certainly don't need them, other departments could maybe use some strengthening like the navy or submarines for example, we already have the biggest land army and airforce in the EU regarding numbers, can't see the use of more tanks, it would probably better to have fund to maintain what we already have which is getting harder everyday with the austerity and all.

Turkey has a lease to use force everywhere, the thingy that was voted in the parliament was not only about Syria but everywhere they feel like it.

Yeah I see your point just looked on a map there are a few points they could cross but the further in they get the more they would have to stick to roads and they are some narrow valleys, they would be Fecked from the High Ground but its not impossible but it would be hard......

The Islands I could see being landed upon that would be the most realistic approach of any conflict I can see happening.

But I can't see much happening in the way of war

Yep land is safe, first there is a big plain going all the way to Istanbul, then there is the river, then big anti-tank trenches, then the mountains and probably the most militarized region in Europe, no one would go from there, it's a suicide. Islands are the key to a potential conflict since they're closer to Turkey than Greece.

You Bozos on the both sides of the conflict don't have the slightest clue that you are trying to understand and solve a problem(events/plots) with your linear mind, a problem that consists of a set of complex multi-dimensional non-linear differential equations with initial and boundary conditions which are only known to the Creators of the problem. Hell, most of you can't even solve a simplest linear equation with one variable.

You are not even a pawn on the chess board. Yet, you think you understand all the secrets and tricks of the game not knowing you make yourself a laughable stock.

You can watch and take a glimpse on the board simply because
they allow you to.

Now, get back to your cage and clamp your hands. You may be given a banana.

We know dummy...

The Greek Prime-minister is said to have brought forward to PM Erdogan the issue of the Greek EEZ during an one-hour meeting in Doha, Qatar.

[link to translate.google.com]

Thanks for link mate.
I'll update the thread soon with the recent EEZ/energy developments.

Sure thing is till March there's going to be escalation in the Aegean...

Doesn't look promising for sure, but new round of exploratory talks will begin soon, let's see how they will pan out.

I doubt if we'll reach till these talks... Don't forget Thrace where there's also serious escalation with the Turkish consulate's actions...

Watching Thrace too off course. Lygeros said today that EEZ is only a matter of days now, but he had also said that it will happen till the end of 2012 too last summer.

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 01/29/2013 03:13 PM

Yes, I also agree on what he said about "end of the year", meaning that our diplomats are rather... slow and don't grasp immediately. Don't forget that this specific ministry has lots of ELIAMEP "members" that are against anything and everything about EEZ.

Things are getting worse it seems...

[link to translate.google.gr]

Yep, this was inevitable, posted earlier in the thread that they gonna buy this thing and that they have declared exploration in Greek territorial waters, EEZ from Greece is supposedly a response to these developments.

And a link from the English page of Hurriyet

[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

And seems things are getting even uglier regarding the Muslim minority in Thrace.

Greek defense minister: No retreat on the EEZ
[link to translate.google.gr]

Spokesman for Turkish foreign ministry: We aren't objecting as long as Greece carries out its oil and gas drilling activities with no harmful effect on Turkey’s rights and benefits, in other words, there is no obstacle against Greek economic activities over uncontested regions."

Turkey, Greece wary of territorial waters claims
[link to www.setimes.com]

Turkish ambassador to Greece: Greece's unilateral action not a step in the right direction
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to www.enet.gr]

On Jan.28, the 54th round of exploratory talks between the two countries started, after a pause of 3 months.

Turkey announced oil exploration with their new seismic vessel in East Med, close to Kastelorizo and inside Cypriot EEZ in the Blocks 1, 4,5,6,7 and 12 where Noble Energy is already drilling. It was estimated that oil exploration in Med would take place in May, but could happen sooner according to Turkish Energy minister.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to www.tovima.gr]
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]
A map of Cyprus EEZ with Block numbers:
[link to www.defence-point.gr]

Israeli company Delek reach partnership deal with Noble Energy on Cypriot Block 12 with a 30% stake. Cyprus to licence ENI, Kogas for offshore gas search.
[link to www.israelnationalnews.com]
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]

Cyprus signs offshore deal with Total. According to new data there is a very big chance for oil in the Blocks that French Total got, that if verified would be the biggest oil deposit in the Mediterranean. France send her new stealth corvette in Cyprus during the negotiations for the deal and according to Cypriot media, Cyprus is interested in acquiring a suitable vessel for the protection of gas rigs/EEZ.
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to www.kathimerini.com.cy]
[link to translate.google.gr]

Erdogan: EU pays the price for admitting Cyprus, south Cyprus is not a state, it’s an administration. There is no such thing as Cyprus as a country. There is the Greek Administration of South Cyprus and there is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the north of the green line.
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

Erdogan’s statement on Cyprus at odds with international community Cypriot govt says.
[link to locationcyprus.com]

Turkish Energy Minister: Oil revenues should be ‘shared’ in Cyprus, Turkey will not cooperate with companies who participate in oil and gas research there until the conditions are clarified
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

Turkish Deputy EU Minister: Russia is behind Greek-Cypriots and using them as a pawn
[link to www.habermonitor.com]

Greece will begin 3 simultaneous navy/airforce drills in the Aegean/East Med on Monday. Greek air-force intercepted a Turkish helicopter that attempted to infiltrate island Kalymnos in the region of Imia, Farmakonisi, Agathonisi.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to translate.google.gr]

Turkish F-16's harassed an Emirates civil aircraft inside Cypriot airspace that didn't respond to control tower of an airport in the occupied part of Cyprus.
[link to translate.google.gr]

Turkish commandos kidnapped two Greek Cypriots in the buffer zone near Dherynia. (They usually let them go after a few days, but they do it more often than usual lately imo)
[link to translate.google.gr]

Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Erick Rubin told Syriza leader Tsipras, that an unilateral action on EEZ by Greece will cause a military crisis with Turkey. Washington's advice to Greece is "drill, if you have to, but no maps" and that drilling should be focused in regions not too close to Turkey like Crete for example. Greek govt is weighing the pros and the cons of every potential move.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to translate.google.gr]

According to Turkish press, Greece already gave up her oil and EEZ ambitions. According to Albanian press, US ambassador to Albania said that the disputed from the Albanian side Greek-Albanian maritime border deal is against both US and Albanian interests.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to translate.google.gr]

Turkish deputy Gurkut Acar, CHP party (founded by Attaturk), denounces the "Greek occupation" of the islands Agathonisi, Farmakonisi, Kastelorizo and requests from Turkish state to make the appropriate steps so the Greek occupation can end and Greek flags can be removed from the islands.
[link to translate.google.gr]


Greek Foreign Min. will visit Turkey on Feb.15 for the preparation of the Supreme Council of Cooperation between Greece and Turkey, to be held on March 5
[link to translate.google.gr]

According to Turkish press, a Turkish tycoon has bought a Greek islet. I haven't been able to confirm this with any Greek sources yet, but lots of noise has been made the last month on the Greek press about a website selling private islands worldwide including islets/islands in Greek territory and that something needs to be done about it to prevent this. Surprisingly, Greek govt acted fast and submitted an amendment that would only allow investors to lease rather than buy islands and would require various ministries and the heads of the armed forces to approve the transaction.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]
[link to www.privateislandsonline.com]

Another show of how politically polarized is the Greek society these days, Golden Dawn organized a march past the U.S. Embassy in Athens on Feb. 2 to commemorate the 1996 Imia dispute that caused a crisis between Greece and Turkey. A GD deputy promised that they will bear the Greek flag on Imia islets once again. On the other hand, the same day a Syriza deputy, Theothoridis, stated that Imia islets are not Greek but Turkish. He was deposed from the party because Syriza is trying to move more to the center-left lately than it's traditional radical far-left policies, this is not the first time Theothoridis makes similar statements, about 2 months ago he pretty much stated that Macedonia is not Greek too.
[link to greece.greekreporter.com]
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to translate.google.gr]

Support of 'terrorism' accusations against Greece and Germany this time continue by the Turkish press after the US embassy suicide bombing incident. 2 weeks before the US embassy attack Turkish press involved Greece with DHKP-C based on a USB stick that has the word "Greece" for passcode.
[link to translate.google.gr]
[link to translate.google.gr]

Both Greece and Germany condemned the accusations.
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

Despite the condemnations, Erdogan went as far as stating that terrorism will definitely return back to Eu like a boomerang.
[link to www.habermonitor.com]

Ankara upping the ante, Samaras to be given file with details of ‘PKK training camps in Greece,’ report says
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]

Various spy scandals continue to implicate Greece and raise questions about how much Turkey, US and NATO allies security has been compromised.

...There are many documents that involved Greece. For example, the warplanes were supposed to patrol above the Aegean Sea as part of routine preparations against the possibility of an unexpected war with Greece but the gang spoiled the military’s plans by sending the planes’ itinerary to the Greek authorities. The indictment said the itinerary information was sent to the Greek authorities within seven minutes of the Turkish military authorities making their decision on which itinerary the warplanes would use. Metin Kubilay Kaşlı was identified as the supplier of this information.

Another damaging leak was provided by Ahmet Gökçül, who had disclosed the radar coverage of Turkish airspace by fixed and mobile radar units. It also listed the potential coverage from the Airborne Warning and Control System that Turkey will be acquiring soon. The fact that documents included a map with white areas indicating blind spots and gaps in radar coverage should be damaging to Turkey’s national security. The note says this map was forwarded via Cem Eriş to a colonel who is the director of operations at the Greek Larissa Air Force Base.

A cache of documents provided by Cem Uyguner reveals highly classified information on contingency planning for the 192nd squadron units for the Milas-Bodrum Airport, an international airport in Turkey close to the Greek islands. It discloses protocols, personnel lists, the number of fighter jets, their duty rosters, and landing/parking zones during wartime. The gang describes the leak as highly valuable. Another suspect named Fatih Şengül supplied a copy of a classified report on the Greek military’s capabilities apparently prepared by a Turkish military attaché in Athens. The gang asks its contacts to link up with the Greek military attaché in Ankara to sell this report to Greece. It says Turkish intelligence operatives Tunç Günal, Uğur Gökşen and Özgür Acar, who had established contact with the Greek military attaché before, can be utilized again....
[link to www.todayszaman.com]
[link to webcache.googleusercontent.com]

Spy scandal at Turkish Foreign Ministry implicates Cyprus with leaked documents and a Greek Orthodox church/foundation in Tenedos (Bozcaada)
[link to www.todayszaman.com]
[link to webcache.googleusercontent.com]

Even allegations from a former rear admiral that 31 Greek pilots working in Turkish Airlines are spies, airline refuted the claims
[link to www.todayszaman.com]

Erdogan’s government is now under heavy pressure to adopt legislation on the financing of terrorism. If it fails to do so by February 22, the Financial Action Task Force (the U.N. of terrorism finance) will add Turkey to the black list, which is currently only comprised to two countries: Iran and North Korea.
[link to www.weeklystandard.com]

Erdogan is just geting turkey into more and more trouble..

1:46 Girl states the US should invade Iran. This was taken in 2011. The media must have been guiding her in this direction.

Thanks for pin.

Missed your post, that's so not me.
I watch Erdogan since he first got elected, he's a very good politician for Turkey and has done many good things there, this is undeniable. I think the megalomaniac rhetoric and thus the problems in the region started in 2009 when Davutoglu and his foreign policy got in office, who i suspect is far more connected with the Gullenists than Erdogan himself.

Isn't Turkey trying to get into the failing EU? It wouldn't be wise to star an historical war with its old nemisis now would it?

Hardly a modern liberal muslim state if that secular mindedness prevails...

Greek FM meets Davutoglu and Erdogan in Turkey.
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on March 5, it was announced on Friday
[link to www.ekathimerini.com]

US State Department condemns Turkey’s ‘inflammatory comments’ on Syria and Israeli strike, Turkey Denies U.S. Complained Over Comments Against Israel
[link to www.timesofisrael.com]
[link to www.israelnationalnews.com]

Turkey says illegal settlements make Israel ‘pariah’ state, Israeli official: Turkish tirades reveal 'brazen hypocrisy'
[link to www.todayszaman.com]
[link to www.jpost.com]

Already split on many key foreign policy issues, Turkey and the United States have found themselves embroiled in new tension after the U.S. envoy received a dressing down from Turkish officials yesterday in the wake of critical comments from the ambassador. The criticisms directed toward Ambassador Francis Ricciardone came in the wake of senior American officials’ reactions to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statements on Israel, as well as their criticisms on the undemocratic nature of the Turkish judicial system.

Turkey-US tension takes envoy to Foreign Ministry, US State Department backs Ambassador Ricciardone's comments
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized U.S. envoy to Turkey Francis Ricciardone's remarks on long detention periods in Turkey during a speech: "No one should be mistaken about our patience, tolerance and friendliness. Turkey is not anybody's scapegoat. Turkey is not a country with which to meddle in its internal issues or its executive, legislative and judiciary systems. And certainly not a country whose foreign policy guidelines can be dictated [by others],"
[link to www.hurriyetdailynews.com]

The questions that US President Barack Obama chose not to answer in a recent interview with Milliyet offer clues about potential troubles ahead in US-Turkish relations
[link to www.al-monitor.com]

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 02/16/2013 11:09 AM

They are supposedly trying to get in the EU, but i'm not convinced that they really want to or that this will ever happen, big corporations based in Turkey and MSM are certainly pushing for this direction, but they're very far at the moment, they've only completed one of the 35 chapters needed for entry, and many chapters require complete reform regarding liberties and human rights, but most importantly EU requires the end of the Cyprus occupation and the recognition of Armenian genocide too, so can't see any of these happening any time soon.

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 02/16/2013 11:17 AM