Posted on 05/12/2024 7:37:09 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
NKARA, Turkey (AP) – Old foes Turkey and Greece will test a five-month-old friendship initiative Monday when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Ankara. The two NATO members, which share decades of mutual animosity, a tense border and disputed waters, agreed to sideline disputes last December. Instead, they´re focusing on trade and energy, repairing cultural ties and a long list of other items placed on the so-called positive agenda. Here’s a look at what the two sides hope to achieve and the disputes that have plagued ties in the past: Mitsotakis is to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday as part of efforts to improve ties following the solidarity Athens showed Ankara after a devastating earthquake hit southern Turkey last year. The two leaders have sharp differences over the Israeli-Hamas war, but are keen to hold back further instability in the eastern Mediterranean as conflict also continues to rage in Ukraine. “We always approach our discussions with Turkey with confidence and with no illusions that Turkish positions will not change from one moment to the next,” Mitsotakis said last week, commenting on the visit. “Nevertheless, I think it’s imperative that when we disagree, the channels of communication should always be open.” “We should disagree without tension and without this always causing an escalation on the ground,” he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
And yes, it does sound like the beginnings of part erships which will unite to try to destroy Israel in the end
Don’t hold your breath.
Not really. Greece is increasingly aligned with the US and Israel, in part because of the potential to become a lucrative pipeline transit hub for Israeli oil and gas resources.
Maybe it’s just posturing, maybe wishful thinking, but trusting Turkey is a fool’s errand.
Well, if history is a teacher, then not necessarily.
Remember the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact? Hitler needed to secure his flank while he avenged the Versailles treaty. Still, he never intended not to take out the Soviet Union who were the bigger enemy.
He just wanted to make some temporary peace in the East for the purpose of circling round back to that later, to quote Jen Psaki.
If Turkey attacks Ankara from the rear, would Greece help?
Turkey is under sanctions and political disfavor that diminish access to the best modern weapons and technology. Although Turkey has announced ambitious plans for a domestic arms industry, the sanctions diminish its potential and run up costs.
Meanwhile, Greece has boosted her military spending to above the NATO two per cent benchmark and is expected to be approved to purchase 20 F-35s that will outclass anything that Turkey has or can obtain.
Not only is Turkey's military modernization stalled while Greece's is well underway, but both countries have good reason to improve relations. To the surprise of all -- including the Greeks -- the birthplace of democracy is actually reforming its economy and government. The corruption and insider dealing that long defined Greek life are being rooted out in order to revive the Greek economy. Conflict with Turkey though would derail that effort.
Meanwhile, Turkey aims at greater power in the Muslim and Arab worlds and is meddling in conflicts throughout the region. This neo-Ottoman strategy is meeting resistance and would falter badly if Turkey had an active conflict with Greece.
“Dogs and Cats living together....”
And Stalin wanted the Germans to weaken their armies in the West, while the Soviet Union continued to re-arm. He had planned to launch an offensive against the Germans by 1943.
Countries pursue their interests. In the modern world, that means that culturally aligned trade and financial partners tend to become security partners. Between deeply antagonistic Greece and Turkey, trust is a thin and fleeting consideration.
So in a war, Greece will have the edge over Turkey because they'll fight like a modern Western military.
But Turkey is very capable, they have been building a lot of drones. And we know that the use of drones are revolutionizing warfare right now.
This is why, as Ezekiel said in Verse 38, that God has to put “hooks” in Gog’s jaw, much as a horse has a bit that can be pulled on.
The question for biblical scholars is, does Ezekiel 38 play out in modern times?
In verse 8 he says: “In future years you (speaking of Gog/Magog and allies) will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.”
That sure sounds like Israel today (post 1948). The Romans kicked out the Jews in 54 AD, and returned to nationhood by gathering Jews from all over Europe and the Middle East in 1948 —which, from their perspective is “long been desolate”.
War imposes risks and burdens that neither Greece nor Turkey want. In addition, Turkey has serious economic problems that dictate an avoidance of conflict with Greece. If the EU and NATO took the likely course and sided with Greece against Turkey, they could collapse the Turkish economy overnight.
“Old foes” indeed. How about 1453?
I’ll need to ask my brother about his opinion.
We lived in Izmir during the 60’s, and he supported NATO (along with his new bride) in Athens during the Greek-Turkish war in the 80’s.
Always an adventures, being the guest of Uncle Sam’s travel agency.
Maybe. The problem with prophecy is that, as intended, vague and obscure meanings leave it in doubt.
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