France to send warships to support Greece in Turkish standoff

[khansaheeb]

We don't already expect much from our closest usless European partners yet what would/should we expect from Turkey ?

A good beating? -"what would/should we expect from Turkey ?"

 

[Wa Muhammada]

France to send warships to support Greece in Turkish standoff

Helena Smith

29 Jan 2020

The prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday.

Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has welcomed a decision by France to dispatch war frigates to the eastern Mediterranean as a standoff with Turkey over regional energy reserves intensifies.

With tensions between Athens and Ankara causing growing international alarm, Mitsotakis described the vessels as “guarantors of peace.”

“The only way to end differences in the eastern Mediterranean is through international justice,” he told reporters after holding talks in Paris with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Greece and France are pursuing a new framework of strategic defence.”

Mitsotakis was in the French capital on a visit aimed at rallying EU support at a time when hostile relations with Turkey have eclipsed all other issues on the agenda of his near seven-month-old government.

Macron pledged France would step up its strategic bond with Greece, accusing Turkey of not only exacerbating regional tensions but failing to stick to its promised course of action in war-torn Libya.

“I want to express my concerns with regard to the behaviour of Turkey at the moment … we have seen during these last days Turkish warships accompanied by Syrian mercenaries arrive on Libyan soil. This is an explicit and serious infringement of what was agreed [at last week’s peace conference] in Berlin. It’s a broken promise.”

The Gallic-Greek alliance cements what officials in Athens are calling a renewed diplomatic push to counter Turkish belligerence in the Mediterranean.

Greece’s defence minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, this week went as far as to warn that armed forces were “examining all scenarios, even that of military engagement” in the face of heightened aggression from Ankara. Rejecting Turkish demands that Greece demilitarise 16 Aegean islands, he accused Turkey of displaying unusually provocative behaviour.

The demand, made last week by his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, follows a dramatic surge in recent months in the number of violations of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets. “Greece does not provoke, does not violate the sovereign rights of others, but it doesn’t like to see its own rights violated,” said Panagiotopoulos.

Tensions between the Nato allies prompted Donald Trump to take the unprecedented step of voicing concerns over the situation in a telephone call with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Monday.

The White House spokesman Judd Deere tweeted that in a conversation focusing on Libya and Syria, the US president had also “highlighted the importance of Turkey and Greece resolving their differences in the east Mediterranean”.

Friction between the two neighbours has not been so acute since the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 – an operation that resulted in the island’s permanent division that is still viewed by Ankara as one of its greatest modern military successes. Privately, Greek officials liken the mood music between the rival countries to 1996, when a military clash over an Aegean islet inhabited solely by goats was narrowly averted after Washington stepped in. “The intervention has been welcomed,” said one well-placed MP. “But whether it will help avoid armed confrontation is far from sure.”

Regional tensions have escalated as Turkish anger has risen over conflicting claims to potentially massive energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.

Erdoğan’s ire has so far been aimed at Cyprus, where a feud over exploration rights has deepened following the discovery of natural gas deposits in waters around the island. Ignoring Turkish anger at not being included, the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government has forged ahead with the search, commissioning international energy companies, including the French multinational Total, to explore allocated blocs off the island for underwater resources.

This month the Turkish president threatened to send more drill ships to the region in retaliation. But an accord reached between Ankara and the UN-backed government in Tripoli in December, delineating new maritime boundaries between the two nations, has taken the bilateral animosity to a higher level.

Waters south of Crete are directly challenged under the agreement with officials in Athens viewing it as a deliberate and unprecedented attempt to undermine the country’s sovereignty. Standing alongside Mitsotakis after their talks, Macron said France “deplores the Turkish-Libyan deal in the clearest terms”.

“What we are seeing is a far more revisionist and aggressive Turkey aiming at change of borders be it on land or sea,” said the international relations professor Aristotle Tziampiris at the University of Piraeus. “That, and Erdoğan’s increasing authoritarianism, is the cause of such tensions and consternation with Greece,” he said. “To counter the aggression, Athens is resolved to strengthen partnerships and strategic alliances, be it with France, other EU allies or the US.”

Tziampiris does not believe the tensions will lead inexorably to confrontation, but the possibility of the two neighbours slipping involuntarily into conflict is real.

“The chances of war are slim, not least because it would be too much of a lose-lose situation,” he said. “But the chances of a [hot] incident, by design or accident, are very real and that is what is worrying us all.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ndoff-france-send-warships-east-mediterranean

I’m concerned for Turkey because they are our brothers. They’r getting bogged in too many fronts/arenas at the same time:

- Libya
- Mediterranean
- Syria

And the Americans in regards to the purchase of S400

May Allah ta’ala give them victory

 

[Ansu fati]

We don't already expect much from our closest usless European partners yet what would/should we expect from Turkey ?

Well you are right they are useless at least in military field
Problem with potential very promising
france-turkish relationship is that there are too many toxic actors against it
First you have lunatic french armenians who are sponsoring anti turkish bills due to inferior issues that are known only to them
Secondly there’s wealthy gcc states like saudi and uae who are good customers of french military equipment this is one of the main reasons why france is against turkey in libya
There are turkish cheap yet very effective drones(TB2 soon there will be operational beasts like Akinci and Aksungur) that can be deployed in sahel as part of joint NATO effort
In return france can begin the SAM project with turkey that can be beneficial for both sides
It’s very ironic that there are more french turks rather than french armenians yet the latter one has more influence that brings opposite of benefit to france since turk-french relations suffer because of their futile hopeless hate that won’t change anything definitely won’t bring their desired revenge/wet dreams into reality
By the way congratulations to France today i have heard on news two soldiers from macedonia would be send to support you very strategic game-changer support from the new nato member hahahahah

 

[American Pakistani]

Eastern Mediterranean belongs to Turkeye.

 

[Ansu fati]

A good beating? -"what would/should we expect from Turkey ?"

Hahahahah this made me laughing
There will be beating for sure(diplomatically)
I am expecting good bashing from reis to wannabe napoleoncito

 

[cloud4000]

Turkey should either leave or let NATO kick it out. It's obvious the two are heading for a divorce. Turkey-EU relations are getting worse by the day.

 

[Vergennes]

Well you are right they are useless at least in military field
Problem with potential very promising
france-turkish relationship is that there are too many toxic actors against it
First you have lunatic french armenians who are sponsoring anti turkish bills due to inferior issues that are known only to them
Secondly there’s wealthy gcc states like saudi and uae who are good customers of french military equipment this is one of the main reasons why france is against turkey in libya
There are turkish cheap yet very effective drones(TB2 soon there will be operational beasts like Akinci and Aksungur) that can be deployed in sahel as part of joint NATO effort
In return france can begin the SAM project with turkey that can be beneficial for both sides
It’s very ironic that there are more french turks rather than french armenians yet the latter one has more influence that brings opposite of benefit to france since turk-french relations suffer because of their futile hopeless hate that won’t change anything definitely won’t bring their desired revenge/wet dreams into reality

You and I know that is NEVER going to happen. France and its political class is deeply anti Turkish,from the far left to the far right,mentionning your country is already a repulsive. (That is reality)

Not to add anti Turkish lobbies you have mentioned will make sure to sink any kind of Franco-Turkish cooperation. So,relations between your country and mine are condemned to become even worse in the future,sadly or not.

 

[Oublious]

Turkey should either leave or let NATO kick it out. It's obvious the two are heading for a divorce. Turkey-EU relations are getting worse by the day.

indians with stupid comments, you should stay in india and start toilet projects.

 

[CAN_TR]

Eastern Mediterranean and Libya are very important for Turkish sovereignty, while France is only interested in Oil/Gas fields in the region.

3000 km away but believes to have a saying here in our front yard.

 

[Ansu fati]

You and I know that is NEVER going to happen. France and its political class is deeply anti Turkish,from the far left to the far right,mentionning your country is already a repulsive. (That is reality)

Not to add anti Turkish lobbies you have mentioned will make sure to sink any kind of Franco-Turkish cooperation. So,relations between your country and mine are condemned to become even worse in the future,sadly or not.

Of course i know about the deep anti turkish feelings to be honest I don’t why cause we have never invaded france and hasbourg empire was of german origin yet i think germans like turks more than french even the english are ready to cooperate in strategic areas with Turkey even though we all know their central role in crushing ottoman empire
As for relaions yes they will get worse cause france is meddling in eastern Mediterranean which is considered as our backyard of course blatant shameless support to pkk on the other hand turkey is rapidly developing ties with various african states that happen to be former french colonies so honestly said expect that lots of young africans to be raise with anti french feelings thanks to turkish inteference i think this will be tit for tat for threatening Turkey’s borders by supporting deluded ethnofaschists
At the end of the day why can’t Turkey have its own separatist ethnic organization inside France in 2030s?!

There wil be hardcore revenge against Europe for their support to pkk this should be expected that’s why alarm is raised at the highest level in eu but they should blame themselves reap what you sow
(This is my objective prediction about turkish policy regarding eu states actually russia and turkey would conspire together agaunst european states)

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Par ailleurs, ce dernier a réaffirmé que la France soutient la Grèce et à la République de Chypre « quant au respect de leur souveraineté dans leurs espaces maritime en condamnant […] les intrusions et les provocations » de la Turquie. Sur ce point, M. Macron a annoncé la mise en place, d’ici juin prochain, d’un « partenariat stratégique de sécurité » entre Paris et Athènes, lequel se traduira par une « présence navale accrue » de la Marine nationale dans la région, une « coopération industrielle renforcée et des opérations communes, maritimes comme terrestres. »

http://www.opex360.com/2020/01/29/m...nce-un-partenariat-strategique-avec-la-grece/

In addition, Macron reaffirmed that France supports Greece and the Republic of Cyprus "as regards the respect of their sovereignty in their maritime areas by condemning [...] intrusions and provocations" from Turkey. On this point, Mr. Macron announced the establishment, by next June, of a "strategic security partnership" between Paris and Athens, which will result in an "increased naval presence" of the French Navy in the region, "enhanced industrial cooperation and joint operations, both maritime and on land. "


@Dante80

View attachment 602274

Serious questions to the French.

Rhetorical to a degree.

First serious question.

What the heck does Greece vs Turkey have to do with you?

Seriously. Two NATO allies arguing. Yet you take sides.

Second question...assuming it has anything to do with you (for argument's sake; of course it doesn't, beyond the crusades), why take Greece's side and not Turkey's? Pragmatically, economically it might be more beneficial to take Turkey's side....but you can't do that, because of the crusades right?

When will France actually grow up and realise the crusades are finished?

You're allowed to take Turkey's side against Greece,believe it or not, especially if you feel it may benefit your country. Be at peace with this reality. I know it's hard because of the crusades and you must keep fighting against the mohamedans or Turks or Saracens and Constantinople is unfinished business and oh the Hagia Sofia being in Turkey probably makes France sad and lamentful. I understand your situation...but just once, dear France, try to understand that there is more to the human experience than living out and fighting the crusades every minute of your existence.

They're all dead -Saladin, Richard, Guy,Balian. Stuff the crusades. Forget about Constantinople. Learn to live with Turkey and respect them as equals, instead of automatically siding against them because the crusades told you to.

France is the most visibly and blatantly extremist christian nation in the world today because of its obsession with crusading. France truly only cares about wars or conflicts where crusader objectives are at stake. Wherever in the world some crusader objective is available, France will suddenly pop up.....Greece and Kurds being the notable recent examples.

The hypocrisy to France's stated values of secularism, equality, liberty is stunning. Mind blowing.

France repeatedly blocks discussion on the liberty of Kashmiris - I mean basic liberty to criticise the Indian government, to have an elected parliament of kashmiri choosing, to have internet and right of assembly and right of protest....France, a self styled guardian of such values, will support fascist India in suppression of the same values. Why?

Crusades are what actually matters to France, not this fraud that you sing about secularism, egalite, liberte, fraternite etc. Load of rubbish.

Secularism?? Where?

 

[Ansu fati]

indians with stupid comments, you should stay in india and start toilet projects.

TOILET JET WOULD BE ACTUALLY 10TH FIGHTER GENERATION

Serious questions to the French.

Rhetorical to a degree.

First serious question.

What the heck does Greece vs Turkey have to do with you?

Seriously. Two NATO allies arguing. Yet you take sides.

Second question...assuming it has anything to do with you (for argument's sake; of course it doesn't, beyond the crusades), why take Greece's side and not Turkey's? Pragmatically, economically it might be more beneficial to take Turkey's side....but you can't do that, because of the crusades right?

When will France actually grow up and realise the crusades are finished?

You're allowed to take Turkey's side against Greece,believe it or not, especially if you feel it may benefit your country. Be at peace with this reality. I know it's hard because of the crusades and you must keep fighting against the mohamedans or Turks or Saracens and Constantinople is unfinished business and oh the Hagia Sofia being in Turkey probably makes France sad and lamentful. I understand your situation...but just once, dear France, try to understand that there is more to the human experience than living out and fighting the crusades every minute of your existence.

They're all dead -Saladin, Richard, Guy,Balian. Stuff the crusades. Forget about Constantinople. Learn to live with Turkey and respect them as equals, instead of automatically siding against them because the crusades told you to.

France is the most visibly and blatantly extremist christian nation in the world today because of its obsession with crusading. France truly only cares about wars or conflicts where crusader objectives are at stake. Wherever in the world some crusader objective is available, France will suddenly pop up.....Greece and Kurds being the notable recent examples.

The hypocrisy to France's stated values of secularism, equality, liberty is stunning. Mind blowing.

France repeatedly blocks discussion on the liberty of Kashmiris - I mean basic liberty to criticise the Indian government, to have an elected parliament of kashmiri choosing, to have internet and right of assembly and right of protest....France, a self styled guardian of such values, will support fascist India in suppression of the same values. Why?

Crusades are what actually matters to France, not this fraud that you sing about secularism, egalite, liberte, fraternite etc. Load of rubbish.

Secularism?? Where?

Brother read what I have said to him if these europeans continue with dirty treacherous behavior very bad things will happen to europe supported by russia and turkey

 

[Last starfighter]

All countries involved are members of NATO.
It's come down to Christians uniting against the Muslim.
Yet again

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

France and its political class is deeply anti Turkish,from the far left to the far right,mentionning your country is already a repulsive. (That is reality)

What possibly could be the reason for that hatred? Does France not want to see a strong Muslim country in the Mediterranean? Are these classes exporting Islamophobia to foreign policy?

We Pakistanis also have problems with French almost total support for India on Kashmir and against us. We also have done nothing against French interests.

Is your foreign policy anti-Muslim? Your hijab ban and oppression of French Muslim citizens is leaking out.

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

Turkish are brave people. They even did't hesitate to shot down Russia fighter. If france do mistake, turkey will teach them lesson.