{"id":195001,"date":"2019-09-19T06:12:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T06:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=195001"},"modified":"2019-09-21T05:41:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T05:41:36","slug":"will-the-us-use-greece-to-block-russia-in-the-black-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=195001","title":{"rendered":"Will the US use Greece to block Russia in the Black Sea?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"center\">\n<h1>Paul Antonopoulos \u2013 Aletho News Sept 18, 2019<\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1545283.5316053128!2d24.758170472750503!3d40.84702786672709!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x14b21c982b6e73e9%3A0x629fdc911555f208!2sAlexandroupoli%20Port!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1568829266301!5m2!1sen!2suk\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Trump administration last week made its first major step to create a Greek-centric NATO corridor following United States Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, announcement that his country intends to acquire the strategic port of Alexandroupoli. If Athens is to accept such a proposal, the country would be contributing to a geopolitical escalation. The US is attempting to push Greece, a traditional rival to Turkey, closer to them at a time when Ankara continues to defy NATO by strengthening its relations with Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The port of Alexandroupoli is of particular importance to US policy in not only the Balkans, but especially to Russia.\u00a0It is also an important energy route as the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB)\u00a0pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is in the region. The port is also important for transportation as it is strategically located close to the Turkish-controlled Dardanelles that connects the Aegean\/Mediterranean Seas with the Black Sea, and therefore Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">With the acquisition of this port, NATO and US forces may be in the Balkans in only a few hours and can easily stop Russian trade with the world via the Black Sea by blockading the Dardanelles. With Turkey increasingly defying NATO \u2013 in which Greece is also a member state of \u2013 by improving relations with Russia and buying the S-400, the US can make Greece more aligned with it under the guise of ensuring Greece\u2019s security.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Turkey violates Greece\u2019s maritime and air space on a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/238614\/article\/ekathimerini\/news\/greece-condemns-erdogans-unacceptable-comments-on-airspace-violations\">daily basis<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Erdogan makes continued\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/neoskosmos.com\/en\/141749\/turkish-president-erdogan-threatens-cyprus-and-warns-he-would-take-the-same-steps-as-45-years-ago\/\">threats to invade<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0the rest of Cyprus. Only weeks ago he made a speech in front of a map that shows Greece\u2019s eastern Mediterranean islands<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/greece.greekreporter.com\/2019\/09\/02\/erdogan-is-photographed-in-front-of-divided-aegean-map\/\">occupied by Turkey<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and days ago Turkey removed the inhabited Greek island of Kastellorizo from<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=2515849525301257&amp;set=a.1769035576649326&amp;type=3&amp;theater\">online maps<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0to claim sovereignty over oil and gas reserves, while continuing threats to\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/turkey-threatens-to-open-the-gates-to-europe-for-refugees\/a-50317804\">flood Greece<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0again with illegal immigrants, among others. Greece undoubtably has an extremely aggressive neighbour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">With Turkey illegally occupying large areas of northern Syria and Cyprus, and illegally intervening in Iraq, Greece must deal with an extremely provocative and expansionist-driven neighbour. With Russia traditionally remaining silent on Turkish provocations towards Greece, it is unlikely that Moscow will stop doing so now that relations are flourishing between the two Black Sea neighbours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The US are trying to capitalize on Erdogan\u2019s aggression towards Greece by attempting to pivot Athens towards them. If the Greek leadership decide to accept the US offer, it will be a powerful blow towards Turkish expansionism in the Aegean and will create a major security threat for Russia. As Greece is a rival of Turkey, the fact it prioritized creating a powerful navy and air force that could block the Dardanelles if needed, might embolden Greece to take direct actions against Turkey\u2019s continued aggressions and threats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Despite Greece being an economically ruined country today with a demographic crisis, it still maintains high military standards. This is reflected with Greece having the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/neoskosmos.com\/en\/122432\/greek-air-fleet-hailed-as-best-of-nato-for-2018\/\">best pilots in NATO<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0in which Turkey is also a member of. In maritime matters, Greece has a far superior navy and experience in the Aegean.\u00a0The Greek Navy has a long tradition and has<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.balkanalysis.com\/greece\/2012\/05\/31\/greece-and-turkey-offensive-and-defensive-balance-of-naval-power-in-2012\/\">never been defeated<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in combat. For this reason, Greece\u2019s navy is one of the most important world naval powers today, at a military and commercial level. Although Turkey\u2019s army makes it one of the largest in the world, it is rendered useless in any war with Greece. Although Greece has a significant maritime border with Turkey, the land border is only 200km long, making it easy to fortify.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">With security against Turkey\u2019s continued aggression being a major priority for Greece, the US ambassador is trying to woo the country into allowing the privatization of the port of Alexandroupoli. He stated: \u201cAlexandroupoli is a crucial link to European energy security, regional stability, and economic growth, so it makes sense that the United States and Greece have chosen here to work together to advance our shared security and economic interests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">With his emphasis on security, it will likely spark huge debates in Athens as it needs security assurances but will also not want to provoke Russia, a country that Greeks see with fraternity when remembering their shared Christian Orthodox faith and Russia\u2019s military and diplomatic role in securing Greece\u2019s independence from the Ottoman Empire. Although Russia is unlikely to back one side or another, a US-controlled port in Alexandroupoli can significantly weaken Russia\u2019s Black Sea capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">If comments by the National Defense Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, of the newly elected neoliberal government is anything to go by, it can be expected that Athens will allow Alexandroupoli to become a US-controlled port. He said that the \u201cuse of the port by the US Armed Forces\u201d will be allowed \u201cwhen there is [certainly] a need\u201d\u00a0for it, especially as Greece\u2019s current\u00a0\u201cstrategic defense relationship with the US and cooperation\u201d are strengthened, \u201cthereby contributing to regional stability and security.\u201d In direct reference to Turkey, he also said \u201cGreece is ready at any time and moment to defend and safeguard in full its sovereign rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In order to avoid a US naval base on the other side of the Dardanelles, Russia should take a position it has proven to be capable of, and something the US lacks experience in- peacebuilding. If Russia can act as a mediator between Greek and Turkey, it might be enough to avoid Athens pivoting towards the US so that it can ensure its security. Russia has proven in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere that it is willing to serve as a mediator in international affairs. With Moscow currently having amicable relations with Ankara, Russia being viewed positively by the majority of Greeks, being a regional country to both Greece and Turkey, and having its owned vested interests in the region, Russia is in a unique position to be able to mediate mutually to find a lasting peace between Greece and Turkey, and to prevent the US acquiring the port of Alexandroupoli.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><em>Paul Antonopoulos is the director of the Multipolarity research centre<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/alethonews.com\/2019\/09\/18\/will-the-us-use-greece-to-block-russia-in-the-black-sea\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. seeks to acquire the Greek port of Alexandroupoli, and if it does it will give the U.S. a strategic foothold in the eastern Mediterranean to counter growing Russian influence    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=195001"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195038,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195001\/revisions\/195038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=195001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=195001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=195001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}