Freepen.gr - Ο Τούρκος ναύαρχος ε.α. και θεωρούμενος πατέρας της λεγόμενης "Γαλάζιας Πατρίδας", Cem Gürdeniz παραχώρησε συνέντευξη στη hurriyetdailynews.com. Η "Γαλάζια Πατρίδα" ήταν η στήλη του σε τουρκική εφημερίδα ενώ το 2006 ήταν εκείνος που μέσα από αυτόν τον προσδιορισμό επιχείρησε να υποδείξει τις θαλάσσιες περιοχές τουρκικής δικαιοδοσίας εκτός του Ευξείνου Πόντου αλλά και σε Αιγαίο / Μεσόγειο.
Ο Gürdeniz θεωρεί ότι όταν μια άλλη χώρα στοχεύει τα ναυτικά σου συμφέροντα τότε έχεις τη δυνατότητα να επιδείξεις την ισχύ σου. Ο ίδιος εκτιμά ότι Ελλάδα, Κύπρος, ΗΠΑ και ΕΕ προσπαθούν να αποκλείσουν την Τουρκία από μια θαλάσσια περιοχή 100.000 τ.χλμ.
Επίσης αναδεικνύει το μπλοκ Ελλάδας - Κύπρου - Αιγύπτου και Ισραήλ καθώς επίσης τις κοινές στρατιωτικές ασκήσεις αλλά και τις γεωτρήσεις.
Στο ερώτημα αν η "Γαλάζια Πατρίδα" αποσκοπεί να περάσει ένα μήνυμα για τη Μεσόγειο, απαντά καταφατικά τονίζοντας ότι πλέον ατό είναι το ναυτικό δόγμα της Τουρκίας. Αναφέρει ότι οι Ελληνες θεωρούσαν τους Τούρκους λαό της ξηράς και η θάλασσα τους ανήκει. Ωστόσο, υποστηρίζει ότι τώρα οι Τούρκοι δηλώνουν παρόντες με ισχυρό ναυτικό, δικά τους καινούρια πολεμικά σκάφη και στέλνουν το μήνυμα πως αποτελούν μια μεγάλη ναυτική δύναμη.
Ακολουθεί το σχετικό απόσπασμα:
The center of gravity in the Blue Homeland exercise seems to be the eastern Mediterranean; could this then be perceived as a message against Turkey’s NATO-ally Greece and others?
If a country targets your maritime interests, if they are targeting your continental shelf rights, your exclusive economic zone (EEZ) rights and try to grasp a chunk of your maritime jurisdiction areas, of course you cannot distinctly target these countries but you can demonstrate your stance.
In the years following the Gülenists’ coup attempt, Turkey has been facing big challenges from Greece and the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (GASC), as well as from the United States and the European Union. They have almost formed an opposing bloc against Turkey. This bloc is trying to impose delimitation in the eastern Mediterranean, which is grasping almost more than 100,000 square kilometers from Turkey.
When you look at the map from EU institutions, the delimitation on these maps does not correspond to that of Turkey. Unfortunately, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has not yet declared our continental shelf or EEZ boundaries in the Mediterranean. They have only declared the longitude of the eastern border west of the Cyprus to the United Nations via two votes in 2004 and 2012. Greece, Greek Cypriots, Egypt and Israel do not recognize this. Together with the U.S., these two countries are holding military exercises almost every month against Turkey. American and European energy companies are holding exploration and exploitations works on the illegally declared Greek Cypriot license zones that overlap the Turkish Continental Shelf.
So would you argue that access to eastern Mediterranean resources are being denied and that the “Blue Homeland” drill is a manifestation of Turkey’s stance?
Indeed. But it also goes beyond that. Blue Homeland has become Turkey’s maritime doctrine and it shows Turkey is becoming a maritime power. Normally, Greeks have thought Turks are land people and believed the sea belonged to them. For the first time in centuries, Turks are saying, “we are now in the sea and we have a strong navy.”
So, is it also a message to underline that it has become a naval power?
Turkey was already a naval power but it is now building its own warships. We have our own indigenous defense industry satisfying most of our defense needs. The Turkish Navy’s strength is not coming from the number of the ships but from the industrial support behind it. Press releases underline the fact that the navy is conducting exercises with nationally built ships.
Would you also say the exercise is a special message to Western powers who do not want Turkey’s access to energy sources?
Yes and they also do not want Turkey to join the maritime club of the developed world. If you look at maritime civilizations, you will see that almost all of the hegemonic states are maritime powers with imperial heritage. This is a very exclusive club: England, France, the U.S., Japan, etc.
Turkey is striving to be a maritime state. The Turkish Navy has reached the point only the maritime states can have and that is the main reason behind the FETÖ action against the navy during the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases. As you may recall, the main target was the Turkish Navy at that time. After 2008, the Turkish Navy started to operate permanently in the Indian Ocean.