​​​​​​​Western newspaper: Erdogan sought to fabricate a military accident with Greece

The German newspaper Die Welt said in a report titled "Erdogan's calculated war," that the Turkish president had asked the army commanders to sink a Greek ship in the eastern Mediterranean.

The newspaper quoted military sources as saying that Erdogan stipulated that they avoid killing anyone in the operation.

When the army generals rejected this proposal, one of them offered another option: to shoot down a Greek fighter, in a way that would not kill the pilot and give him the opportunity to jump from it.

But the generals also rejected this proposal.

The newspaper believed that "if the matter had been left to the Turkish president, his forces would have sunk a Greek ship a while ago, which could lead to a war."

Die Welt said that Erdogan had taken this option after his popularity had declined, in a development that came less than two years before the presidential elections in Turkey.

The German newspaper saw that the Turkish president wants a calculated escalation that does not amount to war, but rather to ignite an external conflict to enhance his popularity and stay in power, noting that this matter is more important to Erdogan than the search for gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean.

T/S

ANHA