“At Imia we had the tactical advantage, we would have sent all the Turkish ships to the bottom – We were in legal self-defence”

In words, h Turkey he is close to declaring war on Greece. Provocative statements and hate speech from the highest authority of the country, down to the last analyst propagandizing on TV shows. The last days, Politico article, stated that Erdogan will plan a war with Greece in order to cling to power, which according to polls, seems to be losing. A realistic scenario or does it move into the realm of fantasy?

We met him Ioannis Engolfopoulosa retired vice admiral, and we discussed Greek-Turkish with him. “Turkey cannot make a military move against Greece”says to podcast of Newsbeast the experienced military man. And he explains why:It has neither the number nor the availability of the units – aircraft and ships, mainly because of the embargo imposed on it by the Western countries. The availability of fighter pilots for their air force has fallen. In the past, Pakistanis had been called in to operate Turkish aircraft. Both at operator level and at staff level, we have found that there is a very low standard. The same is true in the navy. There is no development, which, logically, should come with the much-hyped technology they say they are developing inside Turkey. Moreover, Erdogan has shown no risk-taking attitude. If he declares war, and general conscription, all these minorities at home will sit quietly. Who can control these? How is he going to attack a NATO country without consequences? Also, the Turks, in the last 100 years, have never fought against an organized-regular army. What is happening in Syria and with the Kurds is more of a guerilla war. Any such move would be disastrous.”

Mr. Egolfopoulos has stated in the past, and not once, that in Imia it was the best opportunity for Greece to “finish” the Turks. What is his reasoning? “That night, as the ships were arranged around Imia, we had the tactical advantage”explains the vice-admiral, who was there that night. “The Greek ships were all around and the Turkish ships had entered in the middle. Everything Turkish, everything would go to the bottom, from the moment they boarded the island. How did we know they got on the island? The Americans confirmed it to us. If at that time we hit the Turkish ships, were we within the limits of legal self-defense? We were“, he adds.

And what would be the next day of such a move on our part? “There was no possibility of further war. Why; First, the Turks were not prepared to go to war – and we knew that, as we knew much else. Secondly, that night the weather conditions were such that no air force could be raised. An army could not be mobilized. So, something would be done on the spot, but those who had to make decisions did not have this perception because they were not in the KYSEA room in the Pentagon, but in the prime minister’s office where there was no picture of what was going on. It would be between ships, it would be considered a single episode, a very hot episode, but it couldn’t go any further. We would sit at the negotiating table but we would go with our side right and with the air of a winner. And there, we would solve a lot of issues,” the experienced military man asserts.

Mr. Egolfopoulos, to return to today, is concerned about the period of anarchy that may exist in Greece, if a government is not formed in the first elections, whenever they are held, as a result of which we will be led to second elections. “It’s too dangerous. It would be good for all parties to think about it and not to change any of the strategic leadership for three to four months. In the official government, there should be people whose soul says it and they will not fall into formalism. Let’s send a clear message because the Turks have no business”says.

Listen to Ioannis Engolfopoulos’ interesting analysis on the Newsbeast podcast.

Timeline

0:54 Is the scenario written in foreign media, and more specifically in Politico, near or far, and wants Turkey to plan a war against Greece? The reasons that Recep Tayyip Erdogan he would not make such a move.

13:52 In a few days it will be 27 years since the events in Imia. The experienced military man explains his statement “we had to finish that day with the Turks”.

18:19 Has anyone from the political leadership that managed the crisis in Imia admitted that mistakes were made?

21:17 Could the Turks take advantage of any lack of governance in Greece due to double elections?

24:47 Should we be concerned about the good relations that Turkey has and cultivates with Albania and Kosovo?

27:07 Will Russia launch, in the first months of the year, the major counterattack that foreign analysts say will end the war in Ukraine;

Newsbeast Podcast

Petros Liakouras: “The great opportunity that was lost to get along with Turkey in the Aegean – The gray areas and how to handle them”

Vassilis Martzoukos: “The strategic encirclement of Greece: Turkey’s plan to deploy Greek military forces in a crisis”

Konstantinos Yfantis: What is in Greece’s interest: Victory or defeat of Erdogan in the elections in Turkey? – Where we will excel for the next 20 years

Stelios Fenekos: “This is Greece’s most important problem vis-à-vis Turkey – Every now and then the defense plans are updated”

Ioannis Baltzoi: “Ukraine is the trigger for unpleasant developments at the global level – I am afraid of nuclear”