These days, our Armed Forces are vigilant with their finger on the trigger, from Evros to Kastelorizo, in full readiness to face the Turkish challenges, Greek MP Nikolaos Manolakos wrote.
The questioning of Greece's sovereign rights is clear, repeated in practice.
The day after the Hagia Sophia was inaugurated as a mosque, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "Either sit at the negotiating table, or pay the price in the field."
In other words: peace by granting me what I ask for or armed conflict.
Is there anyone who does not understand the clear statement of the "Sultan"? And also, is there a Greek who will not advocate in "Molon Lave"?
The philosopher, Panagiotis Kondylis in his monumental work "The theory of war" states: "No defense is effective unless it contains a drastic punishment of the attacker: the defender shoots in the same way and for the same purpose as the attacker."
"Therefore, the drastic adjustment of our strategic doctrine should be done, in a way that improves the chances of preventing the war because it will make the Turkish attack ineffective," concluded Professor Panagiotis Hephaestus, analyzing the thought of Kondylis.
That is, the great thinker wants to say, and it was 32 years ago when he said but it sounds as if it was from today, that our strategic doctrine should be adapted to the provocation of an equivalent result - that is, to reciprocate in the same way and for the same purpose or differently, with strategic impact.
At this time, our country's problem with Turkey, as it develops, is existential. Either we continue as an independent state or if we do not react, we become a "satellite" of the Turks. The Greek government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with determination, speed and perspicacity, responded to all the hybrid and non-hybrid challenges of Turkey and faced it successfully.
The problems, however, were neither solved nor withdrawn. That is, Turkey keeps its armed pistol on the table and seeks to change its borders.
Our government will continue to activate the international community and place it before its responsibilities. Definitely, it will continue regional cooperation - Israel, Egypt, Arab countries and France - but it will also use, at every opportunity, the allied European structures and the support of America. But it is utopian to believe that invoking Article 42 of the Lisbon Treaty for the EU will yield more than painless rhetoric.
On the battlefield, we will be alone.
It is a common belief that when diplomacy fails, the last hope of any country is the Armed Forces. In recent years, staffing needs due to the demographic problem have plagued the hierarchy and beyond. The issue can be addressed with specific measures, such as: the increase of the term, the voluntary conscription of women and further utilization of the reserve.
As far as weapons systems are concerned, in the current year, the goal should be the operational availability of all existing ones, with modern ammunition, which maximize their operational capabilities. In relation to the near future, the strategic doctrine of Kondylis should be a beacon.
In order to achieve deterrence, we must have the ability to strike a strategy or the equivalent effect. To do this requires, as a matter of priority, the modernization of the Navy with ships that combine both operational capabilities, surface warfare, area air defense, anti-submarine warfare, command and control of the battlefield digitally and extensively. medium and long range.
Aside, the relentless question comes: Where will the money come from?
The proposal, which can provide the solution, is to set up a Special National Defense Fund, which will operate as a bank account, under the control of a committee of personalities, with inflows of funds from the state, through special regulation and from private contributions, with determination each time, the weapon system to be purchased.
In conclusion, what needs to be done, let it be done today.
Authored by Nikolaos Manolakos, MP in the First Region of Piraeus and Islands with the New Democracy and former commander of Supreme Military Command of the Interior and Islands.
This article first appeared on Proto Thema and does not necessarily reflect the views of Greek City Times.
