Ankara turns wary eye on Greece's new defense minister
Greece's new Defense Minister Kammenos led the Turkish and Greek navies and air forces into an unfriendly confrontation on Jan. 30, in what Ankara hopes was a one-time provocation.
Ankara is curious to find out whether Panos Kammenos, the new defense minister of Greece, will continue with his campaign rhetoric or act like a proper statesman. A senior security official in Ankara who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, said: “If he continues with his populist pre-election language in his new post, this will be a worrying development for us. But we have to see how he performs first.”
Greece's leftist Syriza party won a surprising victory in the Jan. 25 elections, but had to form a coalition government when, with 149 seats in 300-member parliament, it couldn’t go it alone. Young Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras acted quickly, as he had promised, and the next day announced formation of a coalition government with nationalist, right-wing party Independent Greeks, ANEL. Analysts are not having a easy time forecasting how Tsipras will cope with the myriad of tough challenges he is facing.
Many were astounded by radical leftist Tsipras joining up with the extreme right wing. More astonishing was his appointing ANEL's leader, the anti-West Kammenos, also known for his anti-Turkish stand, as the new defense minister. Turkey was most surprised by this appointment.
In foreign policy affairs, Kammenos is an unadulterated nationalist. Rejecting EU and IMF policies on Greece, he accused the EU of using Greece as a guinea pig. He accused Greek politicians of turning Greece into a “concubine of Europe,” and started wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “Greece is not for sale” following the increased pace of privatization.
