Troubled by the nuisance created by colluding rogue states of Turkey and Pakistan, imminent scholars, academicians, and MPs from Greece and India have urged the governments of both countries to work in tandem — with an emphasis on strengthening military cooperation and jointly developing weapons system.
Speaking at a webinar titled ‘Indo-Greek Cooperation: Countering the Turkey-Pakistan Nexus’, Greek leader and Member of European Parliament (MEP) Emmanouil Fragkos stated that Greece and India are entities that existed much before their neighbours (Turkey and Pakistan). While talking about the threat posed by Ankara in the East Mediterranean, the MP called for the Indian Navy to drop its anchors in the region.
“The Indian Navy and forces must begin to have a presence in the East Mediterranean and India and Greece must actively work towards strengthening ties with each other,” said Fragkos.
Fragkos further suggested that Greece could also procure weapons systems from India and expressed his optimism on the possibility of India and Greece jointly developing weapon systems. “This would be the most effective way for India and Greece to counter the growing alliance between Turkey and Pakistan”, he added.
Speaking about the religious atrocities the two Muslim-dominated states undertake on their minorities, Fragos stated that in Pakistan, the Hindu and Christian populations are discriminated against while Turkey unjustifiably targets the small percentage of Christians and Jews living there. The EU MEP and the leader from Greece also expressed his concerns about Pakistan rapidly sharing its nuclear secrets with Turkey.
Traditionally, Greece and Turkey have not seen each other eye-to-eye but lately, both nations are finding each other at loggerheads, more often than not. Erdogan’s latest decision to convert Hagia Sophia– a Greek Byzantine-era church into a mosque had invited severe and scathing criticism from Greece.
Hagia Sophia – a UNESCO World Heritage site, was constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Justinian I, a Byzantine ruler was the main seat of Greece’s Orthodox Church and remained so until the conquest of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire by the Ottomans. With such a deep-rooted ancient astral connection to Hagia Sophia, Erdogan’s stomping on the monument’s history and identity did not go down well with the Greeks.
Churches around Greece flew their flags at half-mast in protest when Erdogan announced his unilateral decision. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had even called Turkey a ‘troublemaker’, and the Hagia Sophia conversion, an ‘affront to the civilization of the 21st century’.
Read More: Church bells and Half-mast flags: Greece goes into complete mourning as Turkey prays in Hagia Sophia
Reported by TFI, to make matters worse, Greece recently uncovered a massive Turkish spy operation that was busted before it could prove catastrophic for the state intelligence forces.
As for New Delhi, Turkey is becoming a bigger threat than Pakistan. Turkish outfits backed by Erdogan’s radical government in Ankara have been supporting and funding Islamist radical organisations in parts of the country including Kerala and Kashmir. The assessment report in New Delhi had noted the emergence of Turkey as “the hub of anti-India activities” next only to Pakistan.
Erdoğan government is also using NGOs and lucrative scholarships to lure youngsters into the ‘radicalisation process’ in Turkey. And all of his schemings are being provided with the final touches by Pakistan, which has nearly become enslaved to Erdogan’s demands.
Read more: With NGOs, scholarships and funding for Islamists, Turkey has infiltrated deep inside India
Turkey and Pakistan are the only two countries that have raised the Kashmir issue at the UNSC for two straight years. Ankara has dangled the Kashmir issue in front of Islamabad as bait and since then the Imran Khan government has been following Erdogan, in the hope that one day Ankara would gift Kashmir to it.
India and Greece have civilisational ties that eclipse the existence of Turkey and Pakistan. Thus, New Delhi should be much more accommodating to Athens’ request of coming down to the East Mediterranean.