Editorial Ta Nea: Puzzlement

For politicians who are not accustomed to democratic mores, the par excellence democratic process, elections, stirs untrammeled nervousness.

It is that nervousness that has consumed the Turkish president ahead of elections, as he is a leader who never became accustomed to democracy, and who indeed shows that he despises it.

That nervousness explains the immoderate sabre-rattling of the Turkish president and his government. In search of an audience domestically, the “sultan” of Ankara is escalating tensions abroad.

The link between Turkish elections and provocations abroad is so obvious that it provokes puzzlement when one considers why our defence minister is fueling Turkish provocations with his statements.

What national interest is served by the salvos of the minister, who also happens to be the junior partner in the ruling coalition? What national values is he defending, beyond his personal agenda?

If elections trigger nervousness in Turkey, what conclusion can one draw about a defence minister who confuses delineation of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with its territorial waters, and indeed even announced their extension?

It is obvious that in the position he occupies, the PM’s ruling coalition partner is harming the country. The minister seems to forget that he represents a country in the European family. It is a country which for many years has confronted Turkish provocations with measure and seriousness, and not with salvos that undermine the nation’s interests.