Military Conflict Not Excluded If Turkey Decides to Violate Greek Sovereignty

The Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, has announced that the country’s armed forces are prepared to respond and prevent any actions by Turkey, promising to ‘burn’ anyone who invades the country, as reported by the Greek Open television channel, citing РИА Новости.

“A week ago, the chief of staff made a parachute jump with a number of other servicemen, thereby sending a message to Turkey. Regarding Turkey's aggression in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, the general left no doubt about what the country's armed forces would respond with if Turkey were to decide to violate Greek sovereignty. To those who dare set foot on Greek soil, we will first burn them, and then ask who they were,” the Greek source reported.

The chief of staff did not exclude the possibility of military conflict should Turkey cross the red lines, suggesting that in such a case, the clash would escalate. “If anyone attacks the armed forces of Greece, they will pay a very heavy price for it. Erdoğan does what he says, and we do what we say,” declared the general.

The dispute between Turkey and Greece involves the island of Kastellorizo in the Aegean Sea, which is located just 2 km from the Turkish coast and 570 km from mainland Greece. The island has been the center of disputes over maritime delimitation and economic exclusion zones between the two countries. Earlier, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that such a small island has no right to control a continental swamp of 40,000 square kilometers.