INTERNACIONAL
Trump uniquely placed to ‘whisper’ in Erdogan’s ear over Turkish regional ambitions: Greek defense minister
FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a major concern in NATO for several years amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s top defense official, the security alliance should take seriously similar threats from within its own coalition, in particular from Turkey.
A decades-old feud over the island nation of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey, both of which have been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for over half a century and spill-over conflicts pushed the two countries nearly to the brink of war in the 1990s.
Though relations between Greece and Turkey have become less outwardly hostile in recent years, Erdoğan’s pursuit of regional natural resources coupled with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and Aegean Sea have long drawn criticism that he is looking to «recreate» the Ottoman Empire.
Nikos Dendias, minister of national defense of Greece, delivers a speech for Greece’s Independence Day in Athens March 25, 2024. (Giorgos Arapekos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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«There’s some people in Turkey that go back to the Ottoman times and believe that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half of the Caucasus, etc.,» Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Fox News Digital.
«I hope that this is daydream, but it creates a lot of problems in the relations with Greece, a lot of problems within NATO.»
Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has long been criticized for his aggressive approach in dealing with regional nations like Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his oppressive practices at home that have targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It’s an issue that has not only blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has increasingly held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S.
The U.S.’s chief ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself in Ankara’s crosshairs as it views the Kurdish-affiliated force as being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Turkey has routinely targeted the group and prompted international concern over how the SDF will be able to continue to effectively fight ISIS should the Trump administration withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
U.S. forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli district in the Al-Hasakah province of Syria Aug. 18, 2023. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
«ISIS, let us be frank and honest, is down but not out,» Dendias said. «The ideology behind ISIS, the ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is alive and kicking.
«And I have to say, the worst thing that you can do in life is forget your allies, forget the people who fought by your side in your hour of need, and turn against them or forget about them,» the defense minister continued. «I’m speaking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. They should not be forgotten by the West.»
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The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime has renewed concerns over regional stability, and the close dynamic between Trump and Erdoğan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president will pursue his regional ambitions.
Dendias argued that the close relationship allegedly shared between the two world leaders will not necessarily embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely position Trump to «whisper» in the ear of the Turkish leader and remind him that «international law, international [rules] of the sea, is a way of life in this modern world.»
«I assume that it will not be good at all for NATO and would not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a huge problem in the eastern front of NATO, taking also into account what’s happening in the Middle East and what’s happening between Russia and Ukraine,» the defense minster added.
The Blue Homeland-2025 Exercise, organized by the Turkish Naval Forces Command in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean, commenced Jan. 8, 2025, in Mugla, Turkey. (Sabri Kesen/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched military exercises in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known as «Blue Homeland,» which Greece has long viewed as a show of force and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface.
«This [is a] new Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach,» Dendias said. «It started appearing somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century … which, in essence, claims that half of the Greek islands in the Aegean belong to Turkey.
President Donald Trump, during his first presidency talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they arrive together for a family photo at a summit of heads of state and government at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
«And sometimes they even go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with very important NATO presence and an American base in Souda – again, should belong to Turkey.»
The defense minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey have made its defensive posture in NATO unique because it has forced Athens to be on top of its defense spending, an issue that has once again become a top matter of discussion in the NATO alliance due to Trump’s push to have all nations meet a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%.
The latest NATO spending figures released in June 2024 show Greece was the fifth-highest spender on defense in the alliance, spending more than 3% of its GPD, while Turkey came in 18th and spent just over 2% of its GDP on defense.
ANKARA, TURKEY- MAY 13: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) of Greece shakes hands with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey during a press conference after their meeting on May 13, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. (Yavuz Ozden/ dia images via Getty Images)
Dendias said European nations need to collectively agree on how they view security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.
«Regardless of President Trump’s position on 5%, it’s an internal issue and needs to be resolved,» Dendias added.
«The biggest threat is countries that do not abide by international law and do not abide by international law of the sea. Countries that believe that borders [are] something that you can disregard, that treaties and international treaties should work only if it’s to your advantage,» Dendias said. «That is the biggest threat to the whole world, not just Greece.»
Additional questions to Dendias about President Trump’s recent comments on his refusal to rule out military intervention in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered.
The Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions but instead pointed to a statement issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who ahead of the «Blue Homeland» exercises said, «Our country, located at the very heart of a region surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tensions and resolving crises.
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«We approach the development of our relations with our neighbor Greece within this framework and take significant steps toward resolving problems,» he added. «The efforts to portray Turkey’s determination to protect its rights and interests in the ‘Blue Homeland’ as ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are nothing more than a futile attempt to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by international law.
«However, while striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly emphasize that we will never compromise our national rights and interests,» Güler said earlier this month.
INTERNACIONAL
Trump urged to look into US funding of Lebanese army amid accusations of its ties to Hezbollah
JERUSALEM – The seeming alliance between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Hezbollah terrorist movement is adding greater urgency to calls for the Trump administration to pull the plug on its generous aid to the LAF, some analysts charge.
«Hezbollah and the Lebanese army are the same,» Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli scholar of Hezbollah, told Fox News Digital. Cohen, a researcher at the Eitan Center, added, «Trump must not fund the Lebanese.» He noted the Lebanese army gave Hezbollah intelligence information about Israel.
The London-based Times newspaper reported last week that an LAF chief sent a classified document to Hezbollah. The LAF‘s Suhil Bahij Gharb, who oversees military intelligence for southern Lebanon, secured the confidential material from a military facility run by the U.S., France and the U.N. interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the newspaper reported.
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Lebanese soldiers take security measures as the Israeli army extended the deadline for its withdrawal from the southern region of Lebanon on Jan. 26, 2025. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
On the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. State Department posted a fact sheet about USA-LAF cooperation. «Since 2006, U.S. investments of more than $3 billion to the LAF enabled the Lebanese military to be a stabilizing force against regional threats,» noted the document.
A senior Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that «Nothing really has been honored by Hezbollah since 2006» and «Lebanon has a chance because Israel destroyed Hezbollah’s leadership.» The official added there is a «historic opportunity» with President Aoun. In early January, the Lebanese Parliament elected the commander of the LAF, Joseph Aoun, as president of Lebanon.
The growing questions over the U.S.-LAF partnership come at a time when the U.S. agreed to Israel’s request to extend the ceasefire arrangement between Jerusalem and Hezbollah until Feb. 18. The U.S. government said in a statement, «The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023.»
Hezbollah, however, seeks to inflame the fragile ceasefire, according to Israeli experts.
AP reported that Israeli forces killed two people and wounded 17 last Monday, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah’s new leader Naim Kassem said his group won’t accept the extension of the ceasefire – a stinging indictment of the Lebanese government that agreed to extend the pause in combat.
CHRISTIAN LEADER IN LEBANON URGES US, ALLIES TO INTERVENE TO STOP HEZBOLLAH
President Joseph Aoun reviews an honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament, in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
«Israel has to withdraw because the 60 days are over,» Kassem said. «We won’t accept any excuses to extend one second or one day.»
«Any delay in the withdrawal is the responsibility of the United Nations, the U.S., France and Israel,» he added.
Last week, pro-Hezbollah Shiite residents of southern Lebanon defied Israeli army orders and sought to storm into their villages. As a result, at least 22 people were killed and 124 others injured by Israeli forces, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Hezbollah has used the Shiite villages and residents to attack Israelis since its ally, Hamas, massacred over 1,200 people in southern Israel. Hezbollah launched its attack one day after the Hamas invasion.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Fox News Digital about the fast-moving developments in Lebanon that there is «nothing new on that front except what you saw from PMO.»
The PMO is an abbreviation for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Fox News Digital reported on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, «Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese government, the gradual withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States.»
When asked about the collusion between the LAF and Hezbollah, the IDF spokesperson said, «We won’t comment on that.»
Walid Phares, a leading expert on Hezbollah and Lebanon, told Fox News Digital, «It is clear that Hezbollah has had a massive opposition to its military presence in Lebanon at least since May 2008 when they invaded half of the capital and parts of the mountain to bring down the government of the ‘Cedars revolution’ after the Syrian withdrawal in 2005.»
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Israeli soldiers raise their fists from a moving APC in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Phares, who has previously advised candidate Trump, added, «In Washington, D.C., there is a debate about arming or not the Lebanese army. Hezbollah has a lot of influence in the LAF. Some lawmakers want to stop the support to the army, others preach that maintaining that support will keep it away from Hezbollah.»
He recommended a new policy: «Rerouting the money to new units in the Lebanese army dedicated only to disarm Hezbollah. These units should report to the command of the army and the president of the republic and should be funded on projects only.»
Phares said, «When Israel eliminated the leadership of the terror militia most Lebanese hoped it was the moment to end Hezbollah and have the army disarm it. People hoped Lebanon will be able to free itself and join the Abraham Accords. But again, the Biden administration didn’t help because of the Iran deal.»
Foreign policy critics of the Biden administration argued that he was wedded to the Iran nuclear deal and did not want to pick fights with Iranian regime allies, so he rekindled the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Tehran. Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal because, he argued, it did not stop Tehran from building a nuclear bomb.
An arch glorifying Hezbollah and Iranian leaders decorates a street of Beirut’s southern suburb on Jan. 16, 2011. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)
IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, president and founder of the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center, told Fox News Digital, «Hezbollah is coming back in south Lebanon [and is] opposed to the arrangement. The Lebanese Army is not fulfilling its mission to deploy effectively in south Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from coming back.»
A spokesman for Lebanon’s embassy referred Fox News Digital to a spokesperson in Beirut, who did not answer multiple press queries.
Zehavi, who lives close to the Lebanese border, said, «We did not see the Lebanese Army disarming Hezbollah. Hezbollah is coming back to those towns. If there are still weapons in those towns, I believe there is, it means that they will be capable of executing terror attacks.»
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She said, «It is within the interests of Hezbollah to cause death, to cause friction to its own Lebanese civilians. And to present the IDF as a force that should not be in Lebanon.» She warned, «We should not fall into the fake message of Hezbollah.» Zehavi said after the second war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel it was agreed that Hezbollah should not be in south Lebanon. UNIFIL has ignored the Hezbollah military buildup since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, according to Israel.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital press query about whether the American government will end aid to the LAF.
THE Associated Press contributed to this report.
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