Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has directly linked the growing Greece-Cyprus-Israel defense partnership to what he...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has directly linked the growing Greece-Cyprus-Israel defense partnership to what he describes as security risks for Turkey, warning that Ankara has received no assurances the cooperation is not aimed against it. The statement reflects a broader anxiety taking hold in Turkish public discourse, where the alignment is increasingly portrayed as a coordinated effort to encircle Turkey from multiple directions. The alarm in Ankara intensified after French President Emmanuel Macron's recent visit to Athens, where he pledged military support to Greece in the event of a sovereignty threat. Much of the Turkish press interpreted the visit as confirmation of a "Greek-French alliance against Turkey," adding Paris to what officials there now describe as a widening anti-Turkish axis. Greece's position is straightforward: every move is a direct response to specific Turkish claims or actions. Those include Ankara's maritime agreements with Libya, its continental shelf assertions in the Aegean, and repeated violations of Greek airspace. Athens points to its deployments of Patriot systems to islands like Karpathos, marine parks in contested zones, and Chevron-led energy exploration south of Crete as defensive steps, not provocations. The military picture has shifted considerably. Greece's acquisition of Rafale jets and Belh@rra frigates, combined with joint Greek-Cypriot F-16 and naval exercises and deepening ties with Israel, has left Ankara warning that the region is tilting back toward pre-detente tension. Turkey has raised the issue of Aegean militarization at both NATO and the EU, while reinforcing its own military presence in occupied northern Cyprus. France's role is no longer peripheral. Beyond its bilateral defense pact with Greece, French forces are actively cooperating with Cyprus's National Guard, and Paris is pushing hard for Greece and Cyprus to activate Article 42.7 of the EU treaty, the mutual defense clause, a mechanism Ankara knows could apply directly to its own conduct. Greek officials insist the posture reflects resolve, not escalation, framing it as translating years of quiet diplomatic groundwork into visible dete...