Ankara’s ‘paper war’ maintains tension

Overflights by Turkish fighters over Greek airspace, a lasting major source of tension between the two nominal allies, may have virtually ceased over the past six months, but this has not lulled Greek officials into believing that Turkey has abandoned its disputing of Greek sovereignty over large parts of the Aegean.

The war of nerves, and real chance of an armed clash, due to the overflights and other Turkish actions, has been substituted with paperwork, in the form of protests emanating from Turkey’s foreign and defense ministries.

Since last November, Turkey has made representations to Greece about movements of its armed forces that have taken place well within Greek territory.

Three of them stand out: On November 21, a diplomatic note claimed that Greek fighter jets harassed two Turkish ones. In February, Turkey presented a list of seven violations of Turkish airspace. And, finally, Turkey protested against naval exercises, reviving its claims that 20 Greek Aegean islands should be demilitarized to conform to established treaties.

There have been further instances of Ankara’s paper busywork: One was a protest against a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued by the Hellenic Air Force restricting an area over Thrace (the Greek part, not the Turkish one) so that the Army could test its drones. And this when in Eastern Thrace, which is Turkish territory, hundreds of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones, used in intelligence gathering missions, are based.

In December and January, Turkey also took umbrage in joint fighter exercises in which Greece and other NATO member-countries took part. Ankara’s distaste for the enhanced American presence in Greece and the upgrade of the port of Alexandroupoli, in Greece’s northeast and close to the border with Turkey, and its use as a conduit of weapons to Ukraine and a staging point for NATO resources’ deployment to Eastern Europe, is well documented.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has replied to all Turkish protests in a low-key manner, avoiding strong language. But diplomats wonder how long this counterproductive exchange can continue.

The Turkish move have not affected exchanges: Exchange visits by commanders of military units took place last week and diplomats from both countries will meet in Athens Monday to discuss so-called discuss so-called “confidence-building measures.”