Türkiye Again Threatens to Wage War on Greece

The Turkish and Cypriot presidents at the Prague summit on Thursday, October 6, 2022. (AFP)
The Turkish and Cypriot presidents at the Prague summit on Thursday, October 6, 2022. (AFP)
TT
20

Türkiye Again Threatens to Wage War on Greece

The Turkish and Cypriot presidents at the Prague summit on Thursday, October 6, 2022. (AFP)
The Turkish and Cypriot presidents at the Prague summit on Thursday, October 6, 2022. (AFP)

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed that his country doesn’t want a war with Greece but it is using the language its neighbor understands.

Ties between Türkiye and Greece have been strained for years over territorial conflicts in the east Mediterranean, but tensions have escalated in recent months over what Türkiye says is a Greek military buildup on Aegean islands close to the Turkish coast.

The Turkish president last month fueled tensions between the two by saying that “we might come suddenly one night.”

“You’ve understood it right, they should have taken the message as well,” Erdogan said in Prague when asked by a journalist if he meant an attack against Greece.

He stressed that Ankara does not want tensions with any of its neighbors and is fighting to protect its borders and interests.

“We don’t want tension with any party, but instead a solution within the legal framework,” Erdogan stated.

He said unarmed aerial vehicles and combat drones are in Northern Cyprus to protect it from all sides.

Erdogan was speaking to reporters on his way back from the first European Political Community Summit in Prague on Thursday.

Asked whether there is a plan to set up a Turkish military base in the northeastern Karpas peninsula in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Erdogan said Turkish drones may also be sent to the region.

“Because we need to secure Northern Cyprus from all sides, from all aspects. Whether it (the base) is (set up) or not, our jets will immediately be in Northern Cyprus as soon as they take off from our mainland,” he added.

Ankara threatened to boost defenses of the Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island, two weeks after Washington lifted a decades-old arms embargo on the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government located in the south of the island.

“The United States, which overlooks and even encourages the steps by the Cypriot-Greek duo that threaten peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean, will lead to an armament race on the island with this step,” Erdogan said.

He affirmed that Türkiye already has 40,000 troops on the island, and it will reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition and vehicles.

“Everyone must know that this last step will not go unresponded and that every precaution will be taken for the security of the Turkish Cypriots,” Erdogan warned.

He said that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades insisted on meeting with him on the sidelines of the summit in Prague.

“Anastasiades insisted on a bilateral meeting...I responded by reminding him that his term ends in two months. In a situation like this, such an issue is not to be discussed,” Erdogan noted.



Chinese Navy Helicopter Flies within 10 Feet of Philippine Patrol Plane Over Disputed Shoal 

A Chinese military helicopter flies close to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) aircraft above Scarborough shoal on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
A Chinese military helicopter flies close to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) aircraft above Scarborough shoal on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Chinese Navy Helicopter Flies within 10 Feet of Philippine Patrol Plane Over Disputed Shoal 

A Chinese military helicopter flies close to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) aircraft above Scarborough shoal on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
A Chinese military helicopter flies close to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) aircraft above Scarborough shoal on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)

A Chinese navy helicopter flew within 10 feet (3 meters) of a Philippine patrol plane on Tuesday in a disputed area of the South China Sea, as the Filipino pilot warned by radio: “You are flying too close, you are very dangerous.”

The helicopter was attempting to force a Cessna Caravan turbo-prop plane belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources out of what China claims is its airspace over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

An Associated Press journalist and other invited foreign media representatives on the plane witnessed the tense 30-minute standoff as the Philippine plane pressed on with its low-altitude patrol around Scarborough with the Chinese navy helicopter hovering close above it or flying to its left in cloudy weather.

“You are flying too close, you are very dangerous and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers,” the Philippine pilot told the Chinese navy helicopter by radio at one point. “Keep away and distance your aircraft from us, you are violating the safety standard set by FAA and ICAO.”

The pilot was referring to the standard distance between aircraft required by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization to prevent air disasters.

The Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries said in a statement that they remain “committed to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, despite the aggressive and escalatory actions of China.”

They referred to the Philippine name for the stretch of waters in the South China Sea closer to the Philippines’ western coast.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the incident, but in past encounters they have steadfastly asserted China's sovereign rights over the Scarborough and surrounding waters and warned that its forces would protect the country's territorial interests at all costs.

Tuesday's encounter, which is expected to be protested by the Philippine government, is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long territorial standoff in one of the world’s busiest trade routes, which involves China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Confrontations on the high seas have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guards in the last two years at Scarborough, a traditional fishing area, and the Second Thomas Shoal, where a grounded Philippine navy ship has served as a territorial outpost since 1999 but has since been closely watched by Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.

China deployed its coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships around Scarborough after a tense standoff with Philippine ships in 2012.

The following year, the Philippines brought its disputes with China to international arbitration. A 2016 decision by a United Nations-backed arbitration panel invalidated China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China, a signatory to the UNCLOS like the Philippines, refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected its outcome and continues to defy it.