Dear Thomas,
thomasglee wrote:
> Perhaps they're not selling them. Greece and Israel just announced
> a "new" relationship between the two countries as Israel needed to
> replace Turkey with somebody since the relationship between Israel
> and Turkey had soured. Greece and Turkey are historical enemies,
> so a military buildup by Greece may be at the request of Israel
> (who is probably supplying them with the money to buy the military
> goods).
I agree with you, Thomas. Greece and Turkey are very bitter
historical enemies, as you point out, as are many countries in the
historic wars between the Muslim and and Orthodox civilizations. It's
worth remembering the very bloody Bosnian war in the 1990s, for
example.
The 1974 war between Turkey and Greece on the island of Cyprus was
never really resolved, and is still an open wound.
As you suggest, Greece is not selling the weapons; Greece is preparing
for a new war with Turkey.
However, I would doubt that Israel is paying for Greece's purchases.
The arms deal appears to be part of the EU bailout of Greece, in the
sense that Greece is using some of the rescue money to support French
and German industries and exports.
John