FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a major concern in NATO for several years amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s top defense official, the security alliance should take seriously similar threats from within its own coalition, in particular from Turkey.

A decades-old feud over the island nation of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey, both of which have been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for over half a century and spill-over conflicts pushed the two countries nearly to the brink of war in the 1990s. 

Though relations between Greece and Turkey have become less outwardly hostile in recent years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s pursuit of regional natural resources coupled with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and Aegean Sea have long drawn criticism that he is looking to "recreate" the Ottoman Empire.

TURKEY AND GREECE LEADERS TO MEET, PUT FRIENDSHIP INITIATIVE TO THE TEST AMID GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS

"There's some people in Turkey that go back to the Ottoman times and believe that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half of the Caucasus, etc.," Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Fox News Digital. 

"I hope that this is daydream, but it creates a lot of problems in the relations with Greece, a lot of problems within NATO."

Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has long been criticized for his aggressive approach in dealing with regional nations like Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his oppressive practices at home that have targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It's an issue that has not only blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has increasingly held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S. 

The U.S.’s chief ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself in Ankara’s crosshairs as it views the Kurdish-affiliated force as being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

Turkey has routinely targeted the group and prompted international concern over how the SDF will be able to continue to effectively fight ISIS should the Trump administration withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

"ISIS, let us be frank and honest, is down but not out," Dendias said. "The ideology behind ISIS, the ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is alive and kicking. 

"And I have to say, the worst thing that you can do in life is forget your allies, forget the people who fought by your side in your hour of need, and turn against them or forget about them," the defense minister continued. "I'm speaking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. They should not be forgotten by the West."

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The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime has renewed concerns over regional stability, and the close dynamic between Trump and Erdoğan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president will pursue his regional ambitions. 

Dendias argued that the close relationship allegedly shared between the two world leaders will not necessarily embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely position Trump to "whisper" in the ear of the Turkish leader and remind him that "international law, international [rules] of the sea, is a way of life in this modern world."

"I assume that it will not be good at all for NATO and would not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a huge problem in the eastern front of NATO, taking also into account what's happening in the Middle East and what's happening between Russia and Ukraine," the defense minster added. 

TURKISH LEADER CLAIMS US BASES IN GREECE POSE DIRECT 'THREAT' AMID SPAT WITH ATHENS OVER NATO EXPANSION

Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched military exercises in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known as "Blue Homeland," which Greece has long viewed as a show of force and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface. 

"This [is a] new Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach," Dendias said. "It started appearing somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century … which, in essence, claims that half of the Greek islands in the Aegean belong to Turkey. 

"And sometimes they even go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with very important NATO presence and an American base in Souda – again, should belong to Turkey." 

The defense minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey have made its defensive posture in NATO unique because it has forced Athens to be on top of its defense spending, an issue that has once again become a top matter of discussion in the NATO alliance due to Trump’s push to have all nations meet a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%. 

The latest NATO spending figures released in June 2024 show Greece was the fifth-highest spender on defense in the alliance, spending more than 3% of its GPD, while Turkey came in 18th and spent just over 2% of its GDP on defense.  

Dendias said European nations need to collectively agree on how they view security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.

"Regardless of President Trump's position on 5%, it's an internal issue and needs to be resolved," Dendias added.

"The biggest threat is countries that do not abide by international law and do not abide by international law of the sea. Countries that believe that borders [are] something that you can disregard, that treaties and international treaties should work only if it's to your advantage," Dendias said. "That is the biggest threat to the whole world, not just Greece."

Additional questions to Dendias about President Trump’s recent comments on his refusal to rule out military intervention in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered. 

The Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions but instead pointed to a statement issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who ahead of the "Blue Homeland" exercises said, "Our country, located at the very heart of a region surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tensions and resolving crises.

"We approach the development of our relations with our neighbor Greece within this framework and take significant steps toward resolving problems," he added. "The efforts to portray Turkey's determination to protect its rights and interests in the ‘Blue Homeland’ as ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are nothing more than a futile attempt to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by international law. 

"However, while striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly emphasize that we will never compromise our national rights and interests," Güler said earlier this month.

Turkey welcomed a delegation of high-ranking Hamas terrorists to Ankara on Wednesday to lend support to the jihadist cause.

The post Turkey’s Erdogan Meets Hamas Leaders: ‘The Spirit of Resistance Will Not Disappear’ appeared first on Breitbart.

A fire at a hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday killed at least 66 people, Turkey's Interior Minister said.

Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster.

"We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel," Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition.

The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.

There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said.

COLLEGE ATHLETE DIES FROM TRAGIC ACCIDENT ON SKI RESORT'S MOST DIFFICULT TRAIL

Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.

He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.

"I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK," the ski instructor told the station.

Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.

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Witnesses and reports said the hotel’s fire detection system failed to operate.

"My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off," Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency.

"We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here (outside)," he said.

Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive.

"People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets ... some tried to jump," he said.

TEEN DEAD AT SKI RESORT NEAR POSH MOUNTAIN TOWN

The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire. NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.

The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the station also reported.

NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the ground.

Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school semester break when hotels in the region are packed.

Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.

Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.

Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people.

The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured while another instructor received second-degree burns on the hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.

The pre-dawn blaze broke out at a popular resort during a school break. Some survivors spoke of terrifying escapes.

With the Assad regime out of power, millions weigh the decision to go back to their war-torn country.

An attempt was made to destroy the final working pipeline carrying Russian gas energy into Europe, Moscow claims.

The post Final Working Pipeline Bringing Russian Gas Into Europe Attacked, Claims Kremlin appeared first on Breitbart.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main U.S. ally whose fighters are currently guarding 45,000 ISIS militants and their families at camps and prisons in Eastern Syria, said the Turkish military and its allied forces continue to attack his Kurdish forces, despite a U.S. brokered ceasefire deal Wednesday. 

"We are still under constant attack from the Turkish military and the Turkish-supported opposition which is called SNA," Gen. Mazloum told Fox. "Eighty drone attacks a day we have from the Turkish military. There is intensive artillery shells. This situation has paralyzed our counterterror operation." 

The attacks by the Turkish military on the SDF have increased since Bashar Al Assad’s fall on December 8. Gen. Mazloum warned that if his Kurdish fighters have to flee, ISIS would return.

SYRIA'S LIBERATED POLITICAL PRISONS REVEAL GRIM REALITY OF BASHAR ASSAD'S REGIME OF TORTURE

Gen. Mazloum said half of his fighters guarding the ISIS camps had to withdraw in recent days.

"All of the prisons still are under our control. However, the prisons and camps are in a critical situation because who is guarding them? They are leaving and having to protect their families," said Gen. Mazloum in an interview from his base in Eastern Syria. "I can give you one example like the Raqqa ISIS prison, which contains about 1,000 ISIS ex-fighters. The number of guards there have diminished by half which is putting them in a fragile position." 

A chilling warning from one of America’s staunchest allies. The U.S. has 900 troops in Eastern Syria, and they would likely have to withdraw if the allied Kurdish fighters retreat under attack from Turkey’s military, which views the Kurds as a terrorist threat.

"We don't want to see that happen. So we're in very close touch with our SDF partners to try to maintain that focus on counter-ISIS missions. And we are just as importantly in touch with our Turkish counterparts," said National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby during a White House press briefing Thursday.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Turkey today meeting with President Recep Erdogan to discuss how to bring stability to Syria.

Secretary Blinken "reiterated the importance of all actors in Syria respecting human rights, upholding international humanitarian law, and taking all feasible steps to protect civilians, including members of minority groups," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement following the meeting with President Erdogan. "He emphasized the need to ensure the coalition can continue to execute its critical mission to defeat ISIS." 

CENTCOM Commander General Erik Kurilla met with Gen. Mazloum and the SDF in Syria on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. military carried out extensive airstrikes targeting dozens of ISIS positions in Eastern Syria. The operation struck over 75 targets – camps and operatives – using U.S. Air Force B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s, according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command.

"There should be no doubt – we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria," said Kurilla. "All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way."

On Wednesday, the SDF announced a truce with Syria’s Turkey-backed rebels in northern Manbij following U.S. mediation "to ensure the safety and security of civilians," Gen. Mazloum said early on Wednesday.

US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

"The fighters of the Manbij Military Council, who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible," Gen. Mazloum added. 

And new indications suggest a ceasefire late Thursday has tentatively been agreed to in Aleppo and Deir Ezzor south of Raqqa along the Euphrates River.

Gen. Mazloum worries about what would happen if the U.S. pulled its forces out of Syria right now.

"We saw that the Russians – they have no further leverage in the country – same for the Iranians. So if now U.S. troops withdraw from Syria that will bring a vacuum."

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS 'NOT GETTING INVOLVED' IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

He added the following warning: "We expect those Islamists, different factions to unite, to fight with ISIS and that will bring back tougher extremists, terrorist organizations back to the country."

The SDF Commander fears another bloody civil war could start if the new Syrian government in Damascus does not include different minority groups, like the Syrian Kurds.

"So any new government in Syria needs to be representative, needs to be inclusive and contain and include all different parties of Syria. So if not that takes us to a bloody civil war in the country and that will put us in huge stage of escalatory path that no one can predict the fate of that," Gen. Mazloum told Fox.

Facing the Turkish fighter jets, the SDF mistakenly shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone in Syria on Monday, the result of "friendly fire," a U.S. defense official told Fox News. "The U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters who are under attack from the Turkish military misidentified the drone as a threat," the official said.