Milliyet: Retired Israeli brigadier sees Turkey as the new threat and calls for an “intelligence union” with Greece and Cyprus

The Turkish newspaper Milliyet presents as a “confession” statements by a retired Israeli brigadier that Israel’s main threat is no longer Iran but Turkey, and that Israel must deepen its strategic relationship with Greece and Cyprus by developing an “intelligence union” against Ankara.

The report of Tuesday, October 13 refers to Erez Winner, whom the paper describes as chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, and to a speech at the Diplomatic Conference organised by the Jerusalem Post. The full text of the speech has not been published, so the statements below are recorded as the Turkish newspaper attributes them.

What Milliyet attributes to the Israeli officer

According to Milliyet, Winner said that “the threat to Israel should now be expected not from Iran but from Turkey” and that “the ring of fire taking shape under Ankara’s leadership is closing fast around Tel Aviv”. The paper says he argued that if Turkey manages to become the leading power of a “Muslim bloc”, with influence from North Africa and Libya to Syria and Gaza, it will increase its geopolitical weight, and that Israel “must be prepared”. He added that Israel must reduce its dependence on foreign supply for munitions and military equipment, because in a long conflict that would be a major risk.

The Aegean and the “Blue Homeland”

The newspaper writes that the retired officer linked Turkey’s growing regional influence to greater pressure on Tel Aviv and Athens in the Aegean, saying that Ankara resolutely promotes doctrines such as the “Blue Homeland” and “voices everywhere its views on its rights over the seas without taking a step back”. According to the report, Winner concluded: “We must continue the strategic rapprochement between Greece, Cyprus and Israel. In particular we must develop unity in the field of intelligence against Turkey.”

Milliyet uses, as Turkish media usually do, the term “Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus” for the Republic of Cyprus.

The context

The report comes while military cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel is in the spotlight, with Cyprus’s air defence being strengthened with Israeli systems and Greece acquiring Israel’s David’s Sling, among other things. Recently the “prime minister” of the occupied territories, Ünal Üstel, called scenarios of an Israeli strike on the occupied areas with Greek support “dangerous”.

There has been no official Israeli, Greek or Cypriot reaction to the report.