A Turkish political analyst spoke about the possibility of an attempt to interfere in the Greek elections. Yavuz Baydar, speaking on Open TV, emphasised that that Ankara could try to interfere in the Greek elections through Western Thrace, adding that this has been calculated by the great powers.
Regarding the possibility of escalation of aggression from Turkey, he argued that escalation can happen but in a careful way as there are limits to how far an escalation can go, especially with Greece as it is a fellow NATO member, a red-line which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recognises.
At the same time, he also referred to the Turkish elections and the possibility of manipulation by Ankara.
He explained that the most important and sensitive aspect of the Turkish elections is that it is under the control of Turkey's interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, who is constantly accused of being linked to organised crime.
Baydar added that the Minister of Justice, Bekir Bozdağ, who is Erdoğan's right hand man, could also try to influence the outcome of the elections.
Finally, regarding what the Turkish president said regarding the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, the Turkish analyst said that after the announcement of the Turkish elections on May 14, the candidacy of Finland and Sweden to NATO will be postponed until after the elections.
He said that Erdoğan wins, there will be other kinds of negotiations, while if the opposition wins, then many problems in Turkish foreign policy that have been at a complete deadlock will likely be resolved.
At the same time, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a new crescendo of provocation, alleged a "just struggle" of a supposed "Turkish minority" in Western Thrace.
Specifically, in a message posted on the Twitter account of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they discuss a "struggle for Turkishness".
"The struggle for Turkishness that our West Thracian expatriates have been fighting for more than 30 years continues today with the same determination as on the first day. Turkey will resolutely continue its support in this just struggle of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace and will not leave its expatriate brothers alone."
Batı Trakyalı soydaşlarımızın 30 yılı aşkın süredir verdikleri Türklük mücadelesi bugün ilk günkü azimle devam etmektedir. Türkiye, Batı Trakya Türk Azınlığının bu haklı mücadelesine yönelik desteğini kararlılıkla sürdürerek, soydaş kardeşlerini yalnız bırakmayacaktır. pic.twitter.com/0x6d3WegTg
— T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_Disisleri) January 29, 2023
Meanwhile, the Greek Foreign Ministry hit back at Ankara, saying that it must be held accountable for how it brought the Greek minority in Turkey to the brink of extinction.
"Turkey once again is distorting reality in order to serve other purposes and certainly not to promote the rights and welfare of the Muslim Minority in Thrace.
"Turkey, a country with an exceptionally poor record in terms of respect for the Rule of Law and human rights, as everyone knows, instead of drawing lessons from Greece, continues not to be held accountable before the International Community for how it has driven the Greek Minority in Istanbul, Imvros (Turkish: Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada) to the brink of extinction.
Although Greece liberated Imvros and Tenedos islands and administered them between November 1912 and September 1921, the Western powers agreed that the islands should be handed over to the new Turkish Republic through the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne.
As per the Treaty of Lausanne, the islands should be autonomous to accommodate the then majority Greek population.
However shortly after the legislation of "Civil Law" on 26 June 1927 (Mahalli Idareler Kanunu), the rights accorded to the Greek population of Imvros and Tenedos were revoked, in violation of the Lausanne Treaty.
An open prison was also built on the island of Imvros that accommodated murderers and rapists, forcing many of the Greeks on the island to flee to Greece and abroad.
Turkey relocated colonisers from Anatolia to the two islands so that the Greek population would become a minority.
A Human Rights Watch report concluded that the Turkish government denied the rights of the Greek community on Imvros and Tenedos in violation of the Lausanne Treaty and international human rights laws and agreements.
READ MORE: Erdoğan: The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque is a "Second Fall".
