Two Greek military officers have been arrested on the 1st of March allegedly because they entered Turkish territory without permission.
The two officers were patrolling an area they knew very well, but the weather conditions were bad, and visibility was low.
As I write this, the officers remain in custody in Edirne, in a high security facility, while the Turkish judicial system is dealing with the case.
People who know the area claim that incidents like this were quite frequent in the past and were handled swiftly and informally by both sides, without placing personnel in custody.
The Greek Government appeared to be quite relaxed at the beginning, expressing optimism that the case will be settled wuickly and the officers will return to Greece. They were so relaxed that the press announcement made by the Army’s General Command was rather slopy, indirectly accepting the characterization of the incident by the Turkish side as “entry into Turkish territory”, even though they had no way of knowing this at the time.
As the days go by, the situation is turning into something more serious, and the Greek Government is now raising the issue with international organizations like NATO. The otimism of the first days has deflated and given its position to anxiety and concern.
Serious questions are asked regarding the unfolding of the incident, as it is claimed that the officers were on Greek territory and they were ambushed by the Turkish “Gendarma”. The Greeks resisted arrest and sustained injuries. This is the reason, according to some sources, that in the photographs released by the Turks following the incident the Greek officers’ faces are covered by hoods.
Why is Turkey acting like this? There is a simple explanation that relates this event to a 15th July 2016 event that is very high on Ankara’s agenda.
During the failed 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt on 15 July 2016, eight Turkish military personnel claimed asylum in Greece. The Turkish servicemen arrived in Greece on board a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Although a Greek court ruled that three of the officers could be extradited to Turkey, Greece’s Supreme Court overruled that decision and denied the extradition of all eight soldiers. (Source: Wikipedia)
Not only the eight officers were not returned to Turkey, but during President Erdogan’s visit to Athens in December 2017, he was told by the Greek Prime Minister Tsipras that the Greek Judicial System is independent of the Executive, the Government, therefore this is not an issue he can deal with. It is outside his realm of powers.
To make things worse, President Erdogan has claimed while in Athens that Prime Minister Tsipras had promised him that the eight Turkish officers would be returned to Turkey. Therefore, he implied that Mr. Tsipras is not a man who keeps his word.
What we see developing now in the incident with the two Greek officers, is a mirror image of the eight Turkish officers’ incident, as far as its treatment by the Turkish Government is concerned.
The Turkish side repeatedly states that the matter will be decided by the court in Edirne, and the Turkish Army and Government have nothing to do with it.
If this is the case, Turkey is following a “tit for tat” strategy.
Tit for tat means “the infliction of an injury or insult in return for one that one has suffered.”
This is bad news for the Greek officers, because their case might drag on for a long time. It is also bad news for the Greek Government, who appear to be consistently missing the mark when it comes to dealing with Turkey.
The traditional conciliatory low-key approach that Greece has followed in its Turkish relationships, no longer works because Turkey has switched to an open conflict strategy.
Solutions ot this type of problems do not grow on trees, and I could not possibly claim to have one.
However, there is an old saying that “the solution of a problem begins with its recognition”.
Turkey is not playing stupid games. Turkey is a very serious country and Mr. Erdogan a capable and strong leader. The Greek Government must consider all incidents, including this one in Evros within a framework of ongoing open conflict, not a framework of good relations gone bad.
There lies the recognition of the problem.
Greece is conflicted with Turkey in a very serious way and the strategic analysis of this situation is far more complicated than the recognition of “tit for tat” in the Evros incident. As one might expect the necessary actions are even more serious and complicated, but Greece does not have a choice.
Conciliation leads to defeat and humiliation. The Greek people expect their government to do much better than that.