The government's anti-Russian hysteria leaves Turkey unscathed

The grandstanding of the modern ”sultan” from the East has been coming and going ever since the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2/24/’22). Once upon a time, he was riding high on the horse of his neo-Ottoman fantasies—the… ’Grand Turk * of our time,” was riding high on his horse of neo-Ottoman fantasies; now he is galloping at breakneck speed toward his ambitions as a… ”European.”.

At least that is what Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demonstrated in one of his speeches, when — while welcoming 17 members of parliament of Turkish descent who had been elected in various European countries to the presidential palace — he declared emphatically that Turkey is a European country, since as the Ottoman Empire it had extended as far as Austria and Moldova, and also southward, to present-day Ukraine—which, for him, is proof that European territories are ’at their core” Turkish.

For better or worse, however, the Turkish President’s remarks do not concern our political leadership, because its top priority is to provide aid to Ukraine, and we cannot rule out the possibility of sending Greek troops to Kyiv to face Russian forces, should we be compelled to do so as members of NATO.

We are already sending defensive equipment and humanitarian aid via C-130s, as well as military supplies—ammunition bound for Ukraine via Poland, AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles and RPG-18 single-use rocket launchers) — without ruling out the deployment of fighter jets, a move that I consider suicidal and utterly irresponsible.

It is clear, unfortunately, that the government—in a state of unjustified panic or zeal (in an effort to present itself to Americans and Europeans as more royal than the king himself) — is making erratic moves, evidently trembling at the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Consequences that affect not only our economy (due to the suspension of energy supplies and the sanctions imposed on Russia), but also the daily lives of Greek citizens, as well as the survival of the Greek diaspora in Ukraine, not to mention the geopolitical implications.

And this last point is directly related to Turkey’s dual stance on the Ukrainian crisis. In other words, the balancing act that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pursuing—on the one hand, seeking to uphold his country’s commitments to NATO (which amounts to condemning the Russian invasion) and, on the other hand, not to damage Turkish-Russian relations (see his negative stance on Western sanctions against Russia).

This is something that should not be overlooked** by either the Greek or Cypriot leadership, because it indicates that Turkey is counting on Russia’s future support for its claims regarding the Aegean and Cyprus.

These facts have certainly put Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government on the defensive, forcing it to limit its defense solely to the communications front, where it is engaging with excessive zeal against Russia in an effort to pin sole responsibility on Putin right now for the surge in prices caused by soaring natural gas prices (Editor’s note: our reserves of natural gas last only 9 days), following the green light given by the Russian President to launch military operations in Ukraine.

All of this will certainly place an even greater burden on the Greek economy, which is undergoing a phase of hasty and costly de-lignitization, a decision the government does not appear to regret and—as is its custom—is looking to blame others in order to avoid the political fallout.

The emergence of adverse conditions in the Greek economy is, understandably, a concern for the prime minister, who has already made proposals to the EU to address emergencies in this sector, though to no avail (see: 1. Promotion of a European Union-funded common fund aimed at supplying natural gas to European countries, and 2. A call for European emergency support measures for households and businesses).

The President of the Republic also recently expressed her concern, during her meeting with the Prime Minister, about the conditions that are setting the stage for the worst to come for our economy.

– […] We are at the dawn of a new era, and the geopolitical turmoil that will ensue will have economic repercussions… We must be prepared for significant upheavals in the energy market. […] The stakes we must fight for are very high. “Throughout our 201 years of independence and struggle for freedom, our country has always been on the right side of history, and it will do the same now,” he said, among other things.

I don’t know how you interpret the words of Ms. Sakellaropoulou, who, incidentally—during her last meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis — ”whitewashed” Attila through her silence, characterizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the ”first such significant attack against an independent and sovereign state in Europe since World War II.”.

If the President reminded us of all this—including the ”price of freedom”—to scare us, she succeeded. Because we certainly shouldn’t take such warnings lightly.

We need only look back to February 2005, when the then Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, Anna Psarouda-Benaki, — during her address to the then-newly elected President of the Republic, Karolos Papoulias — warned the Greek people of the hardships that would befall them and our country (”risks of restrictions on national borders,” etc.).

In the situation we are currently facing, however, the worst threat we face (without ruling out the unpredictability of a global conflict or an escalation of the crisis in Greek-Turkish relations) is the exorbitant rise in energy prices and, consequently, food prices.

This, after all, is a serious reason for the media to begin discussing the possibility of early elections, even though government officials are dismissing the idea and the majority of citizens are not calling for them—not because everything is going well, but because conditions are emerging that threaten peace in the European context.

We live in interesting times (to quote the Chinese saying, ”May you live in interesting times”). These are therefore very dangerous times for the world, and even more so for Greece and Cyprus, over which Turkish revisionism hangs like the Sword of Damocles.

And now, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, yet another headache has been added for both of them. In the case of Cyprus, fortunately, N. Anastasiades (thinking rationally) did not come forward with loud condemnations of Russia, even though Russia’s action bears a resemblance to the Turkish invasion of 1974 on the island of Cyprus.

It did not intervene because it assessed its power not only in geopolitical terms but also diplomatically, without forgetting its long-standing supportive stance toward Cyprus (see Russian vetoes and resolutions opposing the presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus and supporting Cypriot interests in the UN Security Council).

And this is despite the fact that, in recent years, Russia’s stance on the Cyprus issue has shifted from what it used to be, due to its strategic relationship with Turkey.

All in all, Cyprus respects and takes into account the superpower Russia and (wisely) remains silent, unlike our own people, who enthusiastically sided with the allies against Russia, as if they had erased from their memory NATO’s responsibility for the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in ’74 and for the relentless bombings in ’99 against civilians in Yugoslavia…

What we should do, I think, is easy to understand. We should condemn the Russian invasion, without resorting to the unusually aggressive, harsh, accusatory rhetoric (see the statements by Varvitsiotis and Mitsotakis) against Russia that was raised simply to win America’s praise.

The latter option, of course, is an example of our U.S.-led strategic policy. It is a strategy that we pursue across all levels of government in our relationship with Russia, which is why the stance of our political representatives amounts to an aggressive move against Russia.

And this comes at a time when Russia has conveyed to the Prime Minister’s Office, through its embassy in Athens, that it is being unjustly accused of being responsible for the deaths of the 10 Greeks in Ukraine, who— according to the Russian position — were bombed by the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and not by the Russian Air Force. 

Beyond that, however, we should bear in mind that Vladimir Putin already has us in his sights because of the U.S. base in Alexandroupoli, a fact that — rather than causing us to tone down our rhetoric and be more restrained in our statements — has prompted us to put our own… stamp on his ’romance” with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, even as the rift with Turkey gapes wide open.

This is a very dangerous front that requires us to have more friends than enemies. Even more so, powerful friends like Russia, whose favor we lost years ago. That is why our goal should be, at the very least, to ensure its neutrality on the issue of Greek-Turkish disputes and to maintain its long-standing supportive stance toward Cyprus regarding the Cyprus issue.

A stance that is going through a very difficult phase these days due to the mutual interests of Russia—and the fact that Greece and Cyprus are tied to the agenda of foreign powers, specifically the United States, although Germany should be given greater consideration due to its historical context and not be underestimated.

Striking evidence supporting my cautionary remark is the fact that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — speaking at an emergency session of the Bundestag in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine — announced 100 billion euros in military spending, thereby overturning—for the umpteenth time since 1955—the Potsdam Conference*** decision on the disarmament of Germany…

Glossary

* Grand Turk (Gran Turco, as the Italians called it) was the name given to Sultan Mehmed II (Muhammad II the Conqueror).

**With dry feet: With dry feet, effortlessly, without a care.

*** Potsdam Conference (July 17–August 2, 1945). The last Allied conference of the World War II, which determined the fate of defeated Germany, which was forced to sign the four ’Ds”: Disarmament (Disarmament) — Denazification (Denazification) — Democratization (Democratization) — Decentralization (Decentralization), at the request of the victors of the war.

Krini Kalogeridou (Voula Iliadou, author)