Former DM Apostolakis: Turkey cannot manage a war with Greece

The assessment that Turkey cannot currently manage a war with Greece was expressed by the honourary head of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) and former Minister of Defence Evangelos Apostolakis.

"Turkey wants to win things without going to war. I don't think war is in its interest, nor can it manage it at the moment," said Apostolakis, speaking on the First Program.

"War is not something that is clearly won or lost. sides I think both lose, but the cost of going to war with someone should be calculated very seriously," added Apostolakis.

"In our case, the cost is too great for Turkey, if it decides to do something like this, both in terms of military losses and in terms of diplomatic balances," he said.

However, the former minister argued that Turkey, sooner or later, will buy F-16 aircraft.

"My concern is that the ground is slowly being leveled for the Turks to get the armaments one way or another, with Biden convincing the Congress and the Senate or trying to appease Turkey in some way in these tensions that it is creating," he said.

Asked about the issue of casus belli and the possibility that Greece could agree on something other than the known position it has on the issue of 12 nautical miles, Apostolakis said that possibly should be discussed with the Turks.

"There is an issue with international shipping in the Aegean, and if extend to 12 miles, the international shipping lanes almost disappear or remain minimal.

"This should be taken into account, so that navigation can be free on one hand, and on the other hand the sovereign rights of Greece in relation to territorial waters can be ensured," he said.

"For all these there are proposals, there are plans, there are positions that have been submitted and examined from time to time. No agreements have been reached, but I believe there are solutions. We cannot decide arbitrarily and make an allocation", said the Honourary Head of GEETHA.

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