World
Trump uniquely placed to ‘whisper’ in Erdogan’s ear over Turkish regional ambitions: Greek defense minister
FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a major concern in NATO for several years amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s top defense official, the security alliance should take seriously similar threats from within its own coalition, in particular from Turkey.
A decades-old feud over the island nation of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey, both of which have been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for over half a century and spill-over conflicts pushed the two countries nearly to the brink of war in the 1990s.
Though relations between Greece and Turkey have become less outwardly hostile in recent years, Erdoğan’s pursuit of regional natural resources coupled with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and Aegean Sea have long drawn criticism that he is looking to “recreate” the Ottoman Empire.
Nikos Dendias, minister of national defense of Greece, delivers a speech for Greece’s Independence Day in Athens March 25, 2024. (Giorgos Arapekos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
TURKEY AND GREECE LEADERS TO MEET, PUT FRIENDSHIP INITIATIVE TO THE TEST AMID GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS
“There’s some people in Turkey that go back to the Ottoman times and believe that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half of the Caucasus, etc.,” Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Fox News Digital.
“I hope that this is daydream, but it creates a lot of problems in the relations with Greece, a lot of problems within NATO.”
Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has long been criticized for his aggressive approach in dealing with regional nations like Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his oppressive practices at home that have targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It’s an issue that has not only blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has increasingly held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S.
The U.S.’s chief ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself in Ankara’s crosshairs as it views the Kurdish-affiliated force as being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Turkey has routinely targeted the group and prompted international concern over how the SDF will be able to continue to effectively fight ISIS should the Trump administration withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
U.S. forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli district in the Al-Hasakah province of Syria Aug. 18, 2023. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“ISIS, let us be frank and honest, is down but not out,” Dendias said. “The ideology behind ISIS, the ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is alive and kicking.
“And I have to say, the worst thing that you can do in life is forget your allies, forget the people who fought by your side in your hour of need, and turn against them or forget about them,” the defense minister continued. “I’m speaking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. They should not be forgotten by the West.”
TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL
The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime has renewed concerns over regional stability, and the close dynamic between Trump and Erdoğan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president will pursue his regional ambitions.
Dendias argued that the close relationship allegedly shared between the two world leaders will not necessarily embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely position Trump to “whisper” in the ear of the Turkish leader and remind him that “international law, international [rules] of the sea, is a way of life in this modern world.”
“I assume that it will not be good at all for NATO and would not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a huge problem in the eastern front of NATO, taking also into account what’s happening in the Middle East and what’s happening between Russia and Ukraine,” the defense minster added.
The Blue Homeland-2025 Exercise, organized by the Turkish Naval Forces Command in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean, commenced Jan. 8, 2025, in Mugla, Turkey. (Sabri Kesen/Anadolu via Getty Images)
TURKISH LEADER CLAIMS US BASES IN GREECE POSE DIRECT ‘THREAT’ AMID SPAT WITH ATHENS OVER NATO EXPANSION
Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched military exercises in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known as “Blue Homeland,” which Greece has long viewed as a show of force and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface.
“This [is a] new Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach,” Dendias said. “It started appearing somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century … which, in essence, claims that half of the Greek islands in the Aegean belong to Turkey.
President Donald Trump, during his first presidency talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they arrive together for a family photo at a summit of heads of state and government at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
“And sometimes they even go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with very important NATO presence and an American base in Souda – again, should belong to Turkey.”
The defense minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey have made its defensive posture in NATO unique because it has forced Athens to be on top of its defense spending, an issue that has once again become a top matter of discussion in the NATO alliance due to Trump’s push to have all nations meet a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%.
The latest NATO spending figures released in June 2024 show Greece was the fifth-highest spender on defense in the alliance, spending more than 3% of its GPD, while Turkey came in 18th and spent just over 2% of its GDP on defense.
ANKARA, TURKEY- MAY 13: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) of Greece shakes hands with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey during a press conference after their meeting on May 13, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. (Yavuz Ozden/ dia images via Getty Images)
Dendias said European nations need to collectively agree on how they view security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.
“Regardless of President Trump’s position on 5%, it’s an internal issue and needs to be resolved,” Dendias added.
“The biggest threat is countries that do not abide by international law and do not abide by international law of the sea. Countries that believe that borders [are] something that you can disregard, that treaties and international treaties should work only if it’s to your advantage,” Dendias said. “That is the biggest threat to the whole world, not just Greece.”
Additional questions to Dendias about President Trump’s recent comments on his refusal to rule out military intervention in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered.
The Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions but instead pointed to a statement issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who ahead of the “Blue Homeland” exercises said, “Our country, located at the very heart of a region surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tensions and resolving crises.
“We approach the development of our relations with our neighbor Greece within this framework and take significant steps toward resolving problems,” he added. “The efforts to portray Turkey’s determination to protect its rights and interests in the ‘Blue Homeland’ as ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are nothing more than a futile attempt to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by international law.
“However, while striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly emphasize that we will never compromise our national rights and interests,” Güler said earlier this month.
Leaders from both Greenland and Panama issued messages Wednesday fervently rejecting the comments made by President Donald Trump during his address to Congress in which he again reiterated his ambitions to grab hold of the strategically important areas.
Trump has made clear he intends to “acquire” both Greenland and the Panama Canal, and previously refused to rule out military intervention to achieve his expansionist goals.
In his joint address to Congress, the president said his administration had already taken steps to “take back” the Panama Canal and reiterated his push to acquire Greenland, which is currently a territory of Denmark.
TRUMP SAYS AMERICA WOULD WELCOME GREENLAND DURING JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
TRUMP LOOKS EAST
Trump spoke directly to Greenland in his address Tuesday night and said, “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”
“We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” he added.
Trump then said his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it.”
“We need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it,” he continued. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
GREENLAND’S RESPONSE
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede on Wednesday made clear he is neither interested in American or Danish ownership.
“We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes, we are Kalaallit (Greenlanders). The Americans and their leader must understand that,” Egede said in a post on Facebook translated by Reuters.
“We are not for sale and cannot be taken. Our future is determined by us in Greenland,” he added.
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede (left) and President-elect Donald Trump (right). (Getty Images | Fox News Digital)
TRUMP LOOKS SOUTH
Trump’s comments regarding the Panama Canal Tuesday night were just as direct when he said, “My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal.”
“We’ve already started doing it,” he added.
Trump has claimed China has taken over the important waterway as a Hong Kong-based company operates ports on either end of the canal — which the administration has claimed could cut off the U.S. from the canal if Beijing directed it to.
However, Panama has repeatedly rejected the claim that China runs the canal.
PANAMA AGREES TO END CANAL DEAL WITH CHINA AFTER RUBIO VISIT
The Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas (L) and the Portuguese cargo ship MSC Elma sail on Gatun Lake near the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon City, Panama, on Dec. 28, 2024. (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP via Getty Images)
“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments were in reference to a $23 billion BlackRock Inc.- TiL Consortium deal made with Hutchison Port Holdings, the Hong Kong conglomerate, announced on Tuesday.
The consortium, made up of BlackRock Inc., Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, would acquire “90% interests in Panama Ports Company (the “PPC Transaction”), which owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama,” according to a Tuesday press release.
PANAMA’S RESPONSE
But Panama’s president took issue with Trump’s comments saying in part, “Once again, President Trump, is lying.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, waves after being welcomed by Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha, left, upon his arrival at the presidential palace in Panama City, on Sunday, Feb. 2. Panama is Rubio’s first trip abroad as Secretary of State. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
“The Panama Canal is not in the process of being restored, and this is certainly not the task that was even discussed in our conversations with [Secretary of State] Rubio or anyone else,” Panama President José Raúl Mulino said in a post on X. “I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation.
“It has nothing to do with the ‘recovery of the Canal’ or with tarnishing our national sovereignty,” he added. “The Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!”
Talks come as Israel continues to block supplies of humanitarian aid into Gaza after first phase of ceasefire expired.
The United States is engaging in direct talks with Hamas as negotiations on a ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian armed group and Israel are hanging by a thread.
“These are ongoing talks and discussions, I’m not going to detail them here, there are American lives at stake,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday, confirming a report by Axios media outlet that talks between the two sides were taking place.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president has proven is what he believes is [a] good faith, effort to do what’s right for the American people,” Leavitt said.
Adam Boehler, Trump’s nominee to be special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the direct talks with Hamas.
A Hamas official cited by the AFP news agency confirmed the negotiations over Israeli-US captives held in Gaza.
The US had previously publicly refused direct contact with the Palestinian group since banning them as a “terrorist” organisation in 1997.
Israel said it had been consulted by the US on the direct talks.
Israeli officials say about 24 living captives – including Edan Alexander, an American citizen – as well as the bodies of at least 35 others are believed to still be held in Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Jordan, said the two sides discussed captives held in Gaza.
“We understand it’s in order to secure the retrieval of the bodies of Israeli-American captives who are still being held in Gaza and one Israeli captive with US citizenship who is believed to be alive.
“The Americans are saying that their envoys have the power to negotiate with anyone, and it’s not just over the captives who hold American citizenship, it’s also for an end to the war,” she said.
Fragile truce
Confirmation of the talks comes days after the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire expired, with Israel pushing for an extension while Hamas insists on progressing to the second phase of the deal agreed in January.
The first phase saw Hamas release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel releasing more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Israel has said the proposal to extend the first phase of the truce was drafted by the US envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining captives in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners – a key component of the first phase.
Aid blocked
After the first phase expired, Israel on Sunday suspended humanitarian aid deliveries, including fuel, aid and medicine, into Gaza, as the government aims to put pressure on Hamas to accept the new terms – a move that the Palestinian group slammed as a violation of the original deal.
France, the United Kingdom and Germany on Wednesday warned Israel against using aid as a “political tool”, calling on it to ensure the “unhindered” delivery of humanitarian supplies to the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.
“We call on the government of Israel to abide by its international obligations to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza,” the countries said in a joint statement.
“A halt on goods and supplies entering Gaza such as that announced by the government of Israel would risk violating international humanitarian law,” they said. “Humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool.”
The three European nations described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”.
Jones’ 19 lead Central Connecticut over Le Moyne 86-67 in Northeast Conference Tournament
Delawareans rage against high utility bills. Blame the weather
Todd Golden explains how Florida beat Alabama and Auburn on the road in same season
Some parts of GA under a freeze warning. Will it snow overnight in Georgia?
Suspect wanted for murder dies in officer-involved shooting
-
Health1 week agoAs the U.S. Exits Foreign Aid, Who Will Fill the Gap?
-
Science1 week agoMicrosoft Says It Has Created a New State of Matter to Power Quantum Computers
-
Sports1 week agoNHL trade board 7.0: The 4 Nations break is over, and things are about to get real
-
Culture1 week ago‘Never refer to us as Tottenham’ may seem a small edict but it says a lot about the modern game
-
News1 week agoJustice Dept. Takes Broad View of Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons
-
Politics1 week agoBoston councilwoman sounds off after Tom Homan's CPAC promise to 'bring hell': 'We don't scare easy'
-
Business1 week agoIn Britain, a Fight Over a Film Studio Becomes a Test for the Economy
-
Science1 week agoGreenpeace Goes to Court in $300 Million Suit That Poses Bankruptcy Risk