Greece: We were about to wade into the war with Turkey

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panayotopoulos confirmed that his country was on the verge of war with Turkey in the summer of 2020 during the three times, in an interview with the Greek newspaper "Protothema."

The minister pointed out that the maritime fleet was in a state of mobilization, and said: "Our fleet was in the eastern Mediterranean, and in many cases it was close to the Turkish fleet."

He stressed that all the armed forces from warplanes at the bases to the forces on the borders were ready for any development, noting that Greece had confidence that this mobilization would succeed in sending a message of deterrence to the other party.

He explained that the supreme sovereign right is to protect national safety, and on this basis, "we chose to have legal and preventive defense forces on the islands."

To that, Panayotopoulos indicated that Greece and the United States will make changes in the defense cooperation agreement, and said that "the extension of the agreement was also consulted."

He explained that with the inauguration of Biden, there are more opportunities for optimism about reaching an agreement with US, and said: "The reason for this is that they were not able to work well with the previous US administration, because personal relations between Trump and Erdogan affected the general situation."

He continued: "There were very positive statements from the State Department regarding the position of the United States towards Greece. Biden knows Athens well and supports it. He is also a friend of Prime Minister Mikotakis, and I think this is important."

Turkey and Greece, which are members of NATO, are at odds over the extent of each other's continental shelf, and each of them has demands for its entitlement to oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean region, and the conflict erupted last August, when Turkey sent the ship Oroç Rais to the Mediterranean.

T/S

ANHA