Can defense spending help Greece force its way in the eastern Med?

Greece is ratcheting up its inventory in light of the growing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. Most of its defence purchases are aimed at one country — Turkey.

Quoting a government official, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Athens has started to purchase fighter jets and other military equipment to boost its armed forces.

After years of belt-tightening in defence spending, Athens on Monday said it was ready to use part of its cash reserves on arms purchases and other means to strengthen its “deterrence force”.

For Turkish defence experts, the sudden impulse to beef up its inventory with war weapons is a strong indicator of Athens’ militaristic intentions in the disputed parts of the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece is making attempts to enlarge its continental shelf in the Aegean, violating international law and trampling upon Turkey’s maritime assets. It has brushed aside Turkey's calls for giving diplomacy a chance and instead engaged in muscle-flexing in the sea.

In the past few weeks, it has carried out naval drills while seeking military support from France and the United Arab Emirates.

In response, Turkey also engaged in naval drills in order to send a message across that it would not hesitate in retaliating against any Greek attack. Ankara also announced a new navigational telex (Navtex) on Monday to continue its Oruc Reis research vessel activities in the eastern Mediterranean, that Greeks oppose, until September 12.

In a worst-case scenario, if Turkey and Greece end up fighting each other over the maritime boundaries of eastern Mediterranean, which side would have a military advantage?

TRT World spoke to a Turkish Defence Ministry official to get some insight into its military strength in the face of any Greek hostility.

The official who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons said Turkey has air superiority over Greece as it has added many effective weapons and systems to back its fighter jets.

"Together with quantitative superiority of the Turkish Air Force’s inventory, its pilots are much more capable both in terms of skill and combat experience," the official said.

“Turkey has dramatically increased its bombardment and operational experience with cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq in recent years”.

When it comes to ground warfare, Turkey's decades of experience in fighting the PKK terror group as well as recent operations against the YPG and Daesh terrorists, has helped the Turkish army with understanding the changing battlefield realities.

The Libyan conflict has been another reason why Turkish forces are so battle-hardened. Ankara is determined to secure the sea and land sovereignty of the UN-backed government in Libya, and it has extended military support to the embattled government, which has succeeded in keeping the rival militias at bay. 

In June this year, Turkey’s army also held a “High Seas Exercises” off the coast of Libya.

"During the 8-hour mission extending nearly 1050 NM (2000 km) away from Turkish territorial waters, command and control procedures were practised, exercises that included in-flight refuelling, joint naval-air operations were conducted and the maritime and air picture was built and shared," said the defence ministry statement.

According to the defence ministry source, “the recent air exercise showed both the attacking and defensive capabilities of Turkey."

As Turkey has already added the S-400 air defence system and homemade armed drones in its inventory, the official said Turkish forces have an advantage to "overwhelm" the enemy in the Aegean Sea.

With the help of recently developed and actively used armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the operational strength of Turkish forces becomes quite effective.

When it comes to land forces, according to the source, the country has resources to transfer troops to any point in the Thrace region smoothly, thanks to Samur AAAB armoured amphibious assault bridge.

“Thanks to the systems produced by domestic Turkish defence industry companies, Aselsan, Roketsan, Havelsan, Baykar and TAI, the Turkish Armed Forces can fight against all kinds of threats very effectively and successfully,” the source said.