His perseverance Recep Tayyip Erdogan in high tones and rhetoric of surprise Greece “Some night” is not a move that was not expected from Athens, although less than 24 hours have passed since the 40-minute meeting of the two ministers of national defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos as well as Hulusi Akaron the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels. Although some “read” all of his yesterday’s positioning as different from the usual, it is clear that Mr. Erdogan himself prefers to keep up with any Greek-Turkish developments. Erdogan’s statements are recorded even after leaks from Turkish diplomatic sources about the readiness for dialogue, unless, of course, conditions permit. In any case, any Turkish desire for dialogue will be appreciated over time.

Yesterday morning, as in previous days, a Turkish UAV flew over Candeliussa.

His preservation Panayiotopoulou-Akar communication channel and a parallel discussion about the expansion of these contacts at different levels, however, is a positive moment, although no one is in a hurry to declare optimism. Moreover, yesterday morning, as on most previous days, a Turkish UAV flew over Candeliussa again.

Of course, apart from the tactics of constant overflights of islets such as Kinaros and Candeliussa, especially since August, no noticeable changes on the ground from the generally cautious behavior of the Turkish armed forces have been recorded in recent weeks. This peculiar tactic of Ankara to provoke but at the same time be willing to discuss is also not a novelty, since a similar position was maintained, for example, during the Oruç Reis crisis in 2020.

While the new Turkish Ambassador Tsagatay Ercigesh is expected to settle in Athens, which could be the link for any new developments in the next time period, the possibilities for any activation of other channels (other than between the two defense ministers) are de facto limited. First of all, the agreement in principle between Mr. Panagiotopoulos and Mr. Acar on frequent meetings between them shows the desire of both parties to maintain direct communication between themselves in order to avoid any escalation or any military accident. The fact that this channel is between ministers and not the military, as it was in the past, is solely due to the fact that after the 2016 coup, the ability of Turkish army officers to negotiate with their Greek counterparts has been drastically reduced. In addition, the possibility of resuming military confidence-building measures (CBMs) while maintaining the current conditions should be considered extremely unlikely.

Joint exercises of Greece and Great Britain

British interest in the Eastern Mediterranean is expressed in the abundance of joint exercises with the Armed Forces. On Monday, the destroyer “Defender” will conduct an exercise in the west of Crete with the participation of the frigate “Elli” and air force fighters. And on Wednesday, two British Typhoons will take off from a base in Akrotiri in Cyprus and conduct joint exercises with Greek F-16s from Crete in the area east of Karpathos. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias had contacts in London yesterday about the growing Greek-British cooperation.