Monday, October 11, 2021

'Game-changer' Greece-France Pact To Give Naval Supremacy To Athens Over Turkey

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Analyst: French-Greek agreement is termed “game-changer” in Eastern Mediterranean as French frigates will provide naval supremacy to Greece over Turkey, he said

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The French-Greek agreement is termed as a “game-changer” in the Eastern Mediterranean as the French frigates will provide naval supremacy to Greece over Turkey, a defence analyst has said. Greece’s Parliament on Thursday, 7 October ratified an agreement with France over the establishment of a strategic partnership for cooperation in defence and security. Following the signing of the pact between France and Greece, a defence analyst Andreas Mountzouroulias told Tehran Times, “The FDI frigate is the 5th generation of combat ship for naval supremacy and crisis management.”

“This warship is designed for navies looking for a compact frigate able to perform a large range of missions stand-alone or within a task force either,” the analysts added. Under the newest accord between both the European nations that comes in the backdrop of Greece-Turkey tensions and aftereffects of the AUKUS agreement between Australia, UK and US, Athens will be buying at least three French frigates in addition to an earlier order of French fighter aircraft, as per the report. The first Rafale planes are scheduled to be delivered this year. The Greek premier also said that the first Belharra frigate will be delivered in 2025.

Mitsotakis has said in Parliament, "It is an accord that upgrades bilateral cooperation in defence, security and foreign policy." Further, calling the pact a historic agreement, the Greek PM added that “for the first time there is a clear clause of military assistance in the event of an attack by a third party on one of the two states."

Meanwhile, Mountzouroulias has argued, "The military and defence pact signed between Greece and France seems to be the most telling as it provides the immediate military assistance of France to Greece and vice versa, if there is an attack from a third country, even if it is within the framework of their alliances."

Greece-France pact triggers tensions with Turkey
While the Greek PM has reportedly hailed the strategic pact with France, Greece has stirred tensions with Turkey. The pact involving two NATO allies includes the order of French frigates worth around 3 billion euros. But, Greece and Turkey are presently ad odds with each other, reportedly, over the extent of their continental shelves and their maritime boundaries. These tensions have also stopped Athens from any territorial expansion of its waters to 12 miles or 19 kilometres in the Aegean. 

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On the other side, Turkey, on the east of Greece has said that such a move by Athens would reportedly be casus belli. Notably, some of the islands belonging to Greece lie less than 12 miles from Turkey’s western coast. Amid the ongoing frictions, the Greek-French pact has triggered a furious reaction from Ankara, who said in a statement on 1 October that Athens’ “maximalist maritime jurisdiction area and national airspace claims” were in violation of the international law. Turkey also said that it would strengthen Ankara’s determination to safeguard its own rights in the region. 

READ | Greece Parliament ratifies defence pact with France amid tensions with Turkey
As per Xinhua, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said in a statement, “Greece's maritime jurisdiction area and national airspace claims are in contravention of international law. It is a vain dream for Greece to think that they can impose upon Turkey these claims, which are also questioned by the international community, by forming bilateral military alliances against Turkey, undermining NATO alliance itself.”

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"Greece's policy of armament as well as isolation and alienation of Turkey, instead of cooperation, is a problematic policy, which will threaten regional peace and stability and undermine not only itself but also the EU, and Greece is a member of it," he noted.

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