Greece’s defence minister rebuked Turkey on Thursday at a Washington think-tank event, saying that it was “advocating for Hamas” and did not share the US’s vision for the Middle East.
“I’m not in any way anti-Turk, and I don’t believe even Israel is anti-Turk,” Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said at a panel hosted by Greece’s Delphi Economic Forum and the Foundation For Defence Of Democracies.
“Remember that 25 years ago Israel and Turkey were the best of friends,” he said. “What has changed?”
“Who is advocating for Hamas, really advocating for Hamas? Who has never expressed any regret for what happened the 7 October [2023] in Israel? Who hosts the Muslim Brotherhood?” Dendias said.
Dendias has positioned himself as a hardliner on Turkey, particularly to the right of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The former’s remarks, however, evoke memories of when Mitsotakis publicly lobbied Congress against arms sales to Turkey, damaging ties between the two historic foes.
Dendias’s comments do serve as an accurate reflection of the evolution of Israel’s ties to Greece and Turkey.
When Turkey’s secular military had an outsized influence on foreign policy, Israel was a close partner. Pro-Israel voices in Washington even helped Turkey defeat an Armenian Genocide bill in Congress and lobbied for US arms sales to Turkey.
For its part, Greece was the last European Union country to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, in 1990, and was close to Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation, with which it established relations in 1981.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to office as an Islamic populist and positioned his government as a supporter of the Palestinians. Ties between the two plunged after Israeli forces attacked a Turkish vessel and killed 10 activists trying to break the blockade of Gaza in 2010.
Recent wave
More recently, Israel and Greece have emerged as close partners. Their militaries drill together, and both oppose Turkey’s maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece is in talks with Israel to develop a $3bn anti-aircraft and missile defence dome.
Greece’s closeness to Israel, however, has not stopped the Trump administration from leaning on Turkey as a key regional ally. Middle East Eye reported that the US has considered using Turkey to help fill gaps in its shipbuilding.
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President Donald Trump has relied on Turkey for key foreign policy objectives. US officials relied on Ankara to help seal a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and Trump has also recognised Turkish economic and security interests in Syria, where Turkey is the main backer of President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
In the Caucasus, the Trump administration brokered a deal between historic foes Armenia and Azerbaijan that could see a new transit corridor connect to Turkey.
Using Turkey’s rivalry with Israel as an example, however, Dendias argued that the US and Turkey were not aligned.
“I propose a test,” he said.
“Let’s ask the Americans to produce a photo… in 10 years time or 20 years time, how they wish, according to their interest, the Eastern Mediterranean to be,” he said.
“Go to Ankara and ask the same question to President Erdogan…now how similar do you think those two photos will be… think they will not be similar at all,” he said.
Trump hosted Erdogan for a landmark visit to the White House in September. He has yet to host his Greek counterpart.