Athens bracing for months of tension with Ankara

Government officials are prepared for a period of high tensions with Turkey that could last at least until the latter’s parliamentary and presidential elections, set for June 2023.

It is not just that Turkey’s rhetoric has escalated, often threatening Greece with “a new 1922” – the year that Turkish forces defeated a Greek invasion of Asia Minor. The Greek government has deliberately chosen not to respond to such rhetorical flourishes, considering them outlandish and geared toward a domestic audience.

An area of concern is daily Turkish violations of Greek airspace, increasingly performed with drones. At least Greece has seen no signs of Turkish forces being placed on heightened alert.

There is little communication between the two governments, apart from occasional talks between the two defense ministers, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar.