Greece, on Edge Over Turkish Moves in Syria, Announces Building of a Greek ‘Iron Dome’

ATHENS — Greece, in a sign of how volatility in the Middle East is subtly reshaping the defense postures of some regional players, has announced that preparations have begun to build an Israeli-style Iron Dome air defense system.Speaking to the Greek Skai television network this week, the deputy defense minister, Yiannis Kefalogiannis, said that the Greek “iron dome” will be operational by 2026. Mr. Kefalogiannis said that preparations for the all-weather missile shield, to be modeled after Israel’s successful Iron Dome systems, have started “at the level of discussions, regarding the specifications, and the corresponding tender procedures will follow.”Israel’s renowned, all-weather air defense system, which intercepts and destroys short-range rockets and artillery shells, was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. It was first deployed in Israel in 2011. Reuters recently reported that Greece has been in talks with Israel to develop a $2 billion anti-aircraft and anti-missile dome system. For now the defense minister’s statements are surprising both in their substance and timing over the normally non-eventful holiday period. The month of December has, however, seen the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria and Greece’s historic rival in the region, Turkey, take on an outsized role in the formation of Syria’s fledgling post-Assad government. The Greek-Turkish relationship is a complicated one. Despite cooperation in some important strategic matters and the patina of comity afforded by joint membership in NATO, Greece and Turkey have shared historical scars. Add to those present-day competing commercial interests and a range of conflicting maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Mr. Kefalogiannis admitted as much when a Greek journalist pressed him on Ankara’s characterization of the creation of a homegrown Iron Dome as a “provocation” from Athens.“When there is the illegal casus belli, from the side of Turkey against our country, which from what I remember must also be the only casus belli from one state to another, at least a neighboring one, and since we must be ready at all times to ensure our sovereign rights in a region that we see is rapidly changing and we may possibly see other upheavals in our wider neighborhood, obviously we will develop such a system, which will be deterrent, not at all aggressive and, above all, will close in a way, not only the Aegean, but from Evros to Kastellorizo, the entire region, either by air or by sea,” he said.There is a lot to unpack in the deputy defense minister’s statement. The casus belli, something that can be construed as the basis to provoke or justify a war, relates to the ongoing Aegean dispute. That disagreement over territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean is now exacerbated by Turkish efforts to enlarge its claims by striking a new maritime demarcation deal with Syria. Referring to Turkey, Greece’s defense minister, Nikos Dendias stated this month that Greece faces “a real and present threat.”It is deeply ingrained in the Greek national psyche just how much of the Greek War of Independence was fought against the former Ottoman Empire at sea. Much of the political cartography of Greece today is a legacy of that war. The Greek island of Kastellorizo, for example, is hundreds of miles away from Athens, but only one mile from the Turkish coast. The evocation of Evros is an unveiled reference to the river that forms a natural — and closely monitored — border between Greece and Turkey in the north of Greece. Clearly, Greece is ramping up its defenses. Right now the country is among the members of NATO that consistently spends above the two percent of GDP guideline agreed to by the alliance in 2014. According to a joint statement from a strategic dialogue last February, “The United States commended Greece for exceeding its Wales Summit pledge by spending over 3.5 percent of its GDP on defence with over 45 percent of this used for major equipment purchases and modernization.”As for the construction of the Greek Iron Dome, there are hints that it will be something of a state-of-the-art twist on the original Israeli system. Mr. Kefalogiannis stated that “the dome will essentially be ‘quadruple’” in that it will aim to “prevent any threat from the air, whether it concerns a drone, a ballistic missile, or an air threat, and of course, it will also be anti-ship.”

Greece, on Edge Over Turkish Moves in Syria, Announces Building of a Greek ‘Iron Dome’

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