Why Athens’ role as a US ‘proxy’ directly threatens Türkiye

Athens’ unexpected outburst against Türkiye made headlines worldwide. While everyone was trying to figure out the reasons underlying this attitude, I posed the following question in this column: “who is backing Athens?” Noting that Greece has been appointed to act as a “proxy” here. 

 Proxy was already a popular term used to describe what transpired, and it fit Greece well. Then that’s all there is to it. Is it the wrong adjective? Not really. But is it 100% accurate? Well, there is more to it. 

 Since Greece is unable to stand up to Türkiye without U.S. backing, and as a matter of fact, “it can only go to war if the U.S. demands it,” then we need to understand what the U.S. wants from us. 

 I previously wrote: “We need to realize that [the current situation] is different in terms of possibly escalating to war among the traditional Athens-Ankara crises faced in the past. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ outburst is encouraged by U.S. backing, the Syria operation, and Greek elections, but primarily, there’s even a nod to “the West’s border”!  

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 We see it every day. Their suggestion that in order for Türkiye to overcome the crisis with Greece, to solve the Sweden-Finland issue is to maintain even closer ties with the U.S. and the EU! 

 The never on some people. 

 Maintaining closer ties with the West as we have once done in the past feels like we’d just be “sticking to old habits,” and there is no model nor realistic objective to back this sort of approach anymore. 

 Let’s suppose we did just that – which would be like holding on to thin air – what would happen? Will they admit us into the EU? No. They even say so themselves. Will relations with the U.S. be like in the “old days”? Not likely. They themselves have said as much. 

 What then? 

 Even if there was even “a hint of a possibility,” there would still be other challenging questions that need to be answered: Will they continue to support terrorism? Will they extradite the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) traitors? Will they be able to accept Türkiye’s cooperation with “other countries”? Will they establish just and equal relations with us? 

 A “proxy” signifies using one country as a “tool” to harm another country. Is this apparent in the Greece example? Yes. But there’s more to it. It’s also showing us where Türkiye stands with regard to the West. 

 It is high time we faced the truth, and it’s simple: “Where do we stand? Inside or outside “the circle”? 

 In this respect, Greece, Alexandroupoli, is a threat. Not because they store weapons there, but because the U.S. stands between Greece and Türkiye. 

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 “Everything about them is a lie. The West cannot be trusted. Their policies cannot be trusted. They have been wasting our time even in the EU since 1963. They are dishonest.” 

 I took this quote from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, because it is his most recent description of the West (June 6). There are many other harsher statements. If you think this is a political leader’s routine statement towards his electorate, you are wrong. 

 This is what Türkiye’s officials, institutes, its National Security Council (MGK), governing minds, and finally the majority of the public think. The West is no different. Thus, they are “fixing” the border. 

 Though, those in opposition still insist that “withdrawal will not work.” As if anyone is talking about withdrawal, or cutting all ties with the West altogether. Türkiye has many routes it can take: Russia, China, especially Eurasia, Turkic Republics, the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans – not individually, but all of them together. 

 The president said, “We will see Eurasia become the apple of the eye of the world in the upcoming period.” 

 The reality is over being redirected to the West again by any ruling government. Therefore, any U.S. and European investments in Türkiye will remain unanswered in the upcoming elections. 

Why would the top military authorities of two superpower countries at each other’s throats meet alone? If you have any such curiosity, you would have also noticed that Chinese and U.S. defense ministers met in Singapore as well. 

 As the NATO summit is fast approaching, in other words, such a meeting is certainly intriguing as “China is placed on the chopping block” while settling in the new “strategic area.” 

 The meeting took place on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden’s statement that Taiwan will be defended in the event China attacks it. 

 China is concerned that the Ukraine war will serve as an “example” for Taiwan, its counterpart in the Pacific. As it has become a trend to draw links between Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye and Greece, Beijing is worried there might be a similarity between China, Taiwan, and the U.S. It is concerned that the U.S., the U.K., as well as the Western allies in this region will show the same support they provided to Ukraine and Greece. 

 The U.S. is also pitting Taiwan against China in response to Beijing’s pro-Russia position in the Ukraine crisis. Is the U.S. providing weapons to Taiwan? Yes, it is. Is it saying it will react militarily to any intervention in Taiwan? Yes, it is. Then there is nothing more to say. 

 The U.S. said in reference to Taiwan, “The status quo needs to be protected, we will continue to provide weapons for defense purposes, we will resist any power attempt that threatens the Taiwan public’s security, but we are loyal to the ‘One China’ policy.” What a joke. This just goes to show how two-faced the U.S. really is.

 In the meeting, the U.S. criticized China’s financial support to Russia as well. In response, Beijing said they were not providing military support. 

 Additionally, Beijing said, “Avoid any action that will cause instability in China and Taiwan. We will fight for our sovereignty whatever the price. This is the only option for China. Nobody can separate Taiwan from China.” There is nothing further to be said on this.