“If they [Turks] climb onto a rocky island, we will flatten it. And this is a red line, which is embraced by the government “, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis warned during a briefing of reporters.

Responding to questions by reporters covering the Pentagon, the head of the Greek Armed forces made it clear that although the top priority for all, including the US, was to promote peace and security in the region, the Greek military would not hesitate to respond in a decisive way if the Turkish military went onto one of the rocky isles in the Aegean Sea.

Meanwhile, the HNDGS Chief stressed that “the US is looking for ways to ensure balance in the region. Greece was acting as a bridge and playing a positive role. The axis of Greece with Israel and Egypt compensates for the pressure exerted by Turkey”, he said.
“If we need to fight, no one will fight alongside us. Our effort focuses on not having to reach that stage”, he said, adding that Greece, the US, and the EU, are trying to ensure that the Turks would not cross that line.