Don't believe the hype

Greek-Turkish relations are in a particularly sensitive phase right now, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become unpredictable and the country is becoming increasingly destabilized. Every front is open, and Turkey appears to be flirting with civil strife and chaos. The risk that this domestic crisis will spill over across the Aegean and into Cyprus is not at all negligible.

The Greek defense system has thankfully learned a lot from the 1996 Imia crisis, which nearly brought the two neighbors to war, and it has since had to deal with many similar scenarios. The biggest lesson was the need to prevent the escalation of any event - this is exactly what didn't happen with Imia and prompted the crisis. Ever since, officials have known to avoid faux pas and exaggerations at every incident between the two countries and we are lucky to have people with a lot of experience...