The slogan of the “internationalists” in the lecture halls, which said that “the Aegean belongs to its fish,” has been disproved many times in Greek-Turkish crises and has gone down in history as a rather “humorous” approach. Years have passed, and Turkey, through methodical escalation, is claiming at least half of the Aegean, and with the fait accompli it is attempting to impose, it raises another question, especially at a time when “neoliberals” dominate in Greece: who do the fish of the Aegean belong to?;
The question is anything but insignificant. We may have become accustomed to talking about the Aegean in terms of “big” issues, such as oil and natural gas. But the real economy of the Aegean at the moment—and for many years to come, we assume—is two things: tourism and fishing.
In the first, Turkey tries to compete with Greece and sometimes succeeds.
The second area, in which Greece rightfully dominated, seems to be steadily losing ground, and the most paradoxical thing is that there is absolutely no reaction to this!
In recent days, the Turkish fishing fleet has once again flooded the Aegean Sea, especially in the northern Aegean region. According to the data recorded on marinetraffic, over 100 Turkish fishing boats were “fishing” west of Chios and Mytilene. The sighting of a Turkish vessel in Chalkidiki, which had moored there, presumably to unload its catch, also caused a stir!
This should come as no surprise. Just last June, we learned that the largest Greek fishing company, acquired by TurksNo, the Greek government did nothing to prevent this agreement, perhaps because “market laws” and “free economy” are, for some, above the national interest. Could it have done something? Obviously yes. Everything else is just excuses.
Throughout this year's “peaceful summer,” island residents watched in surprise as Turkish fishing boats sailed undisturbed within a stone's throw of our island shores. In Kythira, citizens photographed the Turkish fishing boats... 600 meters from Kapsali and asked what was going on. We have been asking for a year now, but we have not received an answer.
What is also paradoxical is that we do not hear the opposition, and especially the official opposition, persistently questioning the government about this admittedly strange issue. How is it possible that the Turks can fish whenever and wherever they want in the Aegean Sea without any interference? It is as if they have been assured that no one will bother them.
This is not something extraordinary. We have been dealing with this situation in the Aegean for a year now, and it is clear that it is becoming a fait accompli. Is there an agreement? Have the agreements signed by Greece with Italy and Egypt created any new circumstances? And since we mentioned the agreement with Egypt: Turkey even demonstrated during the Oruc Reis crisis that it “respects” the 28th meridian “limit.” Are the Oruc Reis and its warships not violating this limit? Is the same thing happening on our part? In other words, has the activity of our fleet east of the 28th meridian been restricted, if not stopped, as we are being told? We refuse to believe it.
Since the government has abolished journalists, does not answer questions, and only makes announcements, the only safe way to tell citizens publicly what is happening in the Aegean is to be questioned as many times as necessary—until it responds—by the opposition, which must understand that the line separating “unity” from “complicity” is now very thin.
