Marinakis: “Nothing to Do With Turkey,” on Patriot Withdrawal
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis pushed back hard Monday against claims that Greece's decision to withdraw Patriot missile batteries from Karpathos and Didymoteicho was a concession to Turkey, calling the criticism an "a la carte reading" by "so-called experts."
Speaking on SKAI, Marinakis said the decision came strictly from an operational assessment by the Defense Ministry after "a significant period of time" had passed since the systems were deployed. He flatly rejected any link to recent developments in Turkey, saying the move "has nothing whatsoever to do with any development in Turkey."
"It is not a message, not a goodwill gesture, not even close" — Marinakis
Marinakis also pushed back against characterizations of the withdrawal as a goodwill gesture, saying it "is not a message, not a goodwill gesture, not even close." He told critics who are using the word "retreat" that they are "completely out of touch."
On Cyprus, Marinakis drew a clear distinction, describing the situation there as "an entirely different case." The deployment of Patriots to Cyprus was a Greek government initiative coordinated directly with the Republic of Cyprus after the Greek Prime Minister spoke personally with the Cypriot President.
He confirmed the Patriots in question were stationed at Karpathos and Didymoteicho, both strategically sensitive locations relative to Turkey. The decision to pull them, according to Marinakis, was based entirely on a Defense Ministry recommendation following a routine operational review.
Critics in Greek media had framed the withdrawal as a sign of softening toward Ankara, a characterization the government rejected entirely. Marinakis said he was "tired of reading reports about retreat."
