12-07-2017, 10:55 PM
*** 8-Dec-17 World View -- Turkey's president Erdogan visits Greece with a list of contentious demands
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Turkey's president Erdogan visits Greece with a list of contentious demands
****
![[Image: g171207b.png]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171207b.png)
Map showing Greece's Aegean Sea islands that Turkey wants to claim (DW)
Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a two-day trip to Greece
on Thursday. This was the first visit by a Turkish head of state in
65 years, since 1952, and only the second visit by Erdogan to any EU
nation in 18 months. Relations between Turkey and Greece have been
tense for years (for millennia, actually), at a time when relations
between Turkey and all of the European Union have been sharply
deteriorating, and so the nominal purpose of this trip was to improve
bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey.
Possibly the most contentious issue is an agreement about the
island of Cyprus. Half the island has a Greek government, and
that part is a member nation of the European Union. The other half
has a Turkish government, considered illegal by the European Union.
Repeated attempts to unify the island have failed.
So on Thursday, Erdogan referred to peace talks that failed
earlier this year, and said:
<QUOTE>"Who left the table? Southern Cyprus did.... We want
the issue to reach a fair and lasting solution but that is not
southern Cyprus' concern."<END QUOTE>
This was at a joint press conference with Greece's president
Alexis Tsipras. Tsipras responded:
<QUOTE>"My dear friend, Mr. President, we must not forget
that this issue remains unresolved because 43 years ago there was
an illegal invasion and occupation of the northern part of
Cyprus."<END QUOTE>
Tsipras also complained about frequent violations of Greece's
airspace in the Aegean sea:
<QUOTE>"The increasing violations of Greek airspace in the
Aegean and particularly the simulated dogfights in the Aegean pose
a threat to our relations, and particularly a threat to our
pilots."<END QUOTE>
It's possible that Erdogan's warplane violations in the Aegean Sea are
related to his frequently stated demand that the Lausanne Treaty be
renegotiated, to give part of the Aegean Sea to Turkey. As we reported last year,
Erdogan claims
that Turkey was cheated when it was forced to sign the Lausanne Treaty
on July 24, 1923, saying bitterly, "At Lausanne, we gave away the
(Greek) islands that you could shout across to." Proponents of the
status quo point out that the Lausanne Treaty was an important
part of guaranteeing peace between Greece and Turkey following World
War I.
Erdogan claimed that Greece is violating the treaty by refusing to
respect the Muslim minority living in Greece, particularly the Turkish
enclave in Thrace in northeastern Greece near the border with Turkey.
On Friday, the second day of his 2-day visit to Greece, Erdogan has
scheduled a visit to Thrace to see for himself. Erdogan says that he
visited western Thrace in 2005, where there are 150,000 Turkish
descendants, and he wants to visit again. Erdogan is demanding
increased rights for the Muslims of Thrace, complaining that
Greece doesn't even allow them to select their own religious
leaders.
A final demand by Erdogan was to extradite eight Turkish soldiers and
officers who fled from Turkey to Greece on the night of the botched
coup in Turkey. The eight soldiers, included two commanders, four
captains and two sergeants, had escaped to Greece on a Sikorsky
helicopter and landed in Alexandroupolis. The soldiers denied
involvement in the coup, but said that they would not receive a fair
trial in Turkey. Greece says that they cannot be extradited unless
the courts rule it based on evidence that has so far not been
presented that they were involved in the coup.
Overshadowing the visit was the situation involving the EU-Turkey
migrant deal that was signed in 2015. The agreement has been very
successful, in that it's reduced the flow of migrants from Syria and
Iraq into the EU from a torrent into a trickle. However, the number
of migrants has been increasing recently, and the EU has failed to
fulfill its obligations under the deal: Visa-free travel for all
Turkish citizens visiting Europe's Schengen zone, and an acceleration
of negotiations for Turkey to join the EU. Kathimerini and Deutsche Welle and Kathimerini
Related Articles
****
**** Greece furious at Germany over intense airport inspections
****
Airline passengers traveling from Greece to Germany are supposed to
enjoy visa-free travel, since both countries are in Europe's Schengen
Zone, hailed as the greatest achievement of European integration. The
Schengen agreement effectively abolished border controls between most
European Union member states in 1985, allowing the area to function as
a passport-free single country for all its travelers
For the past three weeks, planes carrying passengers from Greece to
Germany are no longer allowed to debark into the airline terminal.
Instead, they're herded into a bus and taken to a secluded corner of
the airport, where they have to stand out in the cold for up to an
hour to be receive scrutinizing passport checks and controls.
Belgium is adopting a similar policy.
The reason given is security, and fears of a terror attack during the
holiday season. Germany's Interior Ministry says that authorities
have counted more than 1,000 illegal entries from Greece since the
start of the year.
Greeks are furious that, once again, they're being used as scapegoats
and held to blame for a refugee problem that they didn't create and
for which they're receiving little help from the rest of the EU.
According to one traveler from Greece:
<QUOTE>"Germany's security concerns may be valid. And the
Greek government, also, may be responsible for its abysmal
handling of the refugee crisis. But that does not justify
unilateral action. It is as if the US state of Massachusetts
orders all incoming US travelers from California to go through
passport controls at foreign arrivals terminals because California
is teeming with migrants."<END QUOTE>
This incident only adds to the general fury that Greeks continue to
feel towards the Germans, after Germany demanded that draconian fiscal
measures be imposed on Greece during the bailout negotiations several
years ago. Many Greeks are also still furious at Germany for the Nazi
invasion. Kathimerini (21-Nov) and Deutsche Welle (28-Nov)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Cyprus, Lausanne Treaty,
Aegean Sea, Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Germany
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Turkey's president Erdogan visits Greece with a list of contentious demands
- Greece furious at Germany over intense airport inspections
****
**** Turkey's president Erdogan visits Greece with a list of contentious demands
****
Map showing Greece's Aegean Sea islands that Turkey wants to claim (DW)
Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a two-day trip to Greece
on Thursday. This was the first visit by a Turkish head of state in
65 years, since 1952, and only the second visit by Erdogan to any EU
nation in 18 months. Relations between Turkey and Greece have been
tense for years (for millennia, actually), at a time when relations
between Turkey and all of the European Union have been sharply
deteriorating, and so the nominal purpose of this trip was to improve
bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey.
Possibly the most contentious issue is an agreement about the
island of Cyprus. Half the island has a Greek government, and
that part is a member nation of the European Union. The other half
has a Turkish government, considered illegal by the European Union.
Repeated attempts to unify the island have failed.
So on Thursday, Erdogan referred to peace talks that failed
earlier this year, and said:
<QUOTE>"Who left the table? Southern Cyprus did.... We want
the issue to reach a fair and lasting solution but that is not
southern Cyprus' concern."<END QUOTE>
This was at a joint press conference with Greece's president
Alexis Tsipras. Tsipras responded:
<QUOTE>"My dear friend, Mr. President, we must not forget
that this issue remains unresolved because 43 years ago there was
an illegal invasion and occupation of the northern part of
Cyprus."<END QUOTE>
Tsipras also complained about frequent violations of Greece's
airspace in the Aegean sea:
<QUOTE>"The increasing violations of Greek airspace in the
Aegean and particularly the simulated dogfights in the Aegean pose
a threat to our relations, and particularly a threat to our
pilots."<END QUOTE>
It's possible that Erdogan's warplane violations in the Aegean Sea are
related to his frequently stated demand that the Lausanne Treaty be
renegotiated, to give part of the Aegean Sea to Turkey. As we reported last year,
Erdogan claims
that Turkey was cheated when it was forced to sign the Lausanne Treaty
on July 24, 1923, saying bitterly, "At Lausanne, we gave away the
(Greek) islands that you could shout across to." Proponents of the
status quo point out that the Lausanne Treaty was an important
part of guaranteeing peace between Greece and Turkey following World
War I.
Erdogan claimed that Greece is violating the treaty by refusing to
respect the Muslim minority living in Greece, particularly the Turkish
enclave in Thrace in northeastern Greece near the border with Turkey.
On Friday, the second day of his 2-day visit to Greece, Erdogan has
scheduled a visit to Thrace to see for himself. Erdogan says that he
visited western Thrace in 2005, where there are 150,000 Turkish
descendants, and he wants to visit again. Erdogan is demanding
increased rights for the Muslims of Thrace, complaining that
Greece doesn't even allow them to select their own religious
leaders.
A final demand by Erdogan was to extradite eight Turkish soldiers and
officers who fled from Turkey to Greece on the night of the botched
coup in Turkey. The eight soldiers, included two commanders, four
captains and two sergeants, had escaped to Greece on a Sikorsky
helicopter and landed in Alexandroupolis. The soldiers denied
involvement in the coup, but said that they would not receive a fair
trial in Turkey. Greece says that they cannot be extradited unless
the courts rule it based on evidence that has so far not been
presented that they were involved in the coup.
Overshadowing the visit was the situation involving the EU-Turkey
migrant deal that was signed in 2015. The agreement has been very
successful, in that it's reduced the flow of migrants from Syria and
Iraq into the EU from a torrent into a trickle. However, the number
of migrants has been increasing recently, and the EU has failed to
fulfill its obligations under the deal: Visa-free travel for all
Turkish citizens visiting Europe's Schengen zone, and an acceleration
of negotiations for Turkey to join the EU. Kathimerini and Deutsche Welle and Kathimerini
Related Articles
- Erdogan says some Greek islands should really belong to Turkey (11-Dec-2016)
- Furious Turkey threatens migrant deal over Greece's failure to extradite (28-Jan-2017)
****
**** Greece furious at Germany over intense airport inspections
****
Airline passengers traveling from Greece to Germany are supposed to
enjoy visa-free travel, since both countries are in Europe's Schengen
Zone, hailed as the greatest achievement of European integration. The
Schengen agreement effectively abolished border controls between most
European Union member states in 1985, allowing the area to function as
a passport-free single country for all its travelers
For the past three weeks, planes carrying passengers from Greece to
Germany are no longer allowed to debark into the airline terminal.
Instead, they're herded into a bus and taken to a secluded corner of
the airport, where they have to stand out in the cold for up to an
hour to be receive scrutinizing passport checks and controls.
Belgium is adopting a similar policy.
The reason given is security, and fears of a terror attack during the
holiday season. Germany's Interior Ministry says that authorities
have counted more than 1,000 illegal entries from Greece since the
start of the year.
Greeks are furious that, once again, they're being used as scapegoats
and held to blame for a refugee problem that they didn't create and
for which they're receiving little help from the rest of the EU.
According to one traveler from Greece:
<QUOTE>"Germany's security concerns may be valid. And the
Greek government, also, may be responsible for its abysmal
handling of the refugee crisis. But that does not justify
unilateral action. It is as if the US state of Massachusetts
orders all incoming US travelers from California to go through
passport controls at foreign arrivals terminals because California
is teeming with migrants."<END QUOTE>
This incident only adds to the general fury that Greeks continue to
feel towards the Germans, after Germany demanded that draconian fiscal
measures be imposed on Greece during the bailout negotiations several
years ago. Many Greeks are also still furious at Germany for the Nazi
invasion. Kathimerini (21-Nov) and Deutsche Welle (28-Nov)
Related Articles
- Germany's government blocks debt relief for Greece, despite new austerity measures (23-May-2017)
- Greece may demand 162 billion euros in WW II reparations from Germany (09-Apr-2013)
- France-Germany split over 3-day ultimatum to Greece leads to flared tempers (13-Jul-2015)
- Germany openly backs plan to give EU control of Greece's budget (30-Jan-2012)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Cyprus, Lausanne Treaty,
Aegean Sea, Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Germany
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
