The fireworks trap
A show of strength does not necessarily suggest power, but rather indicates the need to show off. Turkey’s “Blue Motherland” air and sea exercise, taking place in the Aegean, Black and Eastern Mediterranean seas from today until March 8, seems to primarily serve this need to impress.
This is why presenting “Blue Motherland” as a sign of military superiority could help fulfill the Turkish military’s goal of flexing its muscles – even before the exercise has been started and completed.
We rightly say that there must never be any complacency when it comes to Greek-Turkish relations. On the other hand, overdramatizing an event such as this can be just as harmful as complacency. We must not fall into this trap and mistake fireworks for gunfire.
