Defence Minister of Greece Calls Turkey ‘Enemy’

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The Minister of Defence of Greece Panos Kammenos made a statement yesterday (April 4) and referred to Turkey as "an enemy that continues to provoke us." Kammenos also said that he had ordered the deployment of more military personnel to the islands in the eastern Aegean Sea.

Referring to the increasing tension between Turkey and Greece, the Minister Kammenos stated that 7,000 service members were being moved to the islands and a border area in northeast Greece.

Associated Press has reported that speaking at a reservist exercise on the island of Ikaria, Kammenos said, "If they have the guts, let them dare to challenge one inch of our territory."

The tension between the two countries caused by their disagreement over air and sea boundaries in the Aegean Sea as well as the oil and gas drilling off the coast of Cyprus has been escalated by the detention and arrest of two soldiers from Greece who strayed into the territory of Turkey while on a border patrol on March 1.

In his speech yesterday, Kammenos said, "What is needed is the vigilance of the entire Greek people in facing an opponent, an enemy that continues to provoke us. We are not frightened or brought to our knees by their provocations, their threats, and their insults. They make us stronger."

The Minister of Defence Panos Kammenos is the Chair of the right-wing and nationalist Independent Greece Party, which is also the junior coalition partner in the government of Greece. (ŞA/SD)