ISSUE OF ENERGY
According to Epikaira, US Deputy Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, (Responsible for European and Eurasian Affairs) in the period 2007-2009 played a pivotal role in the energy coup that would have placed Greece on the global energy map.
According to Wikipedia Bryza was responsible for policy oversight and management of relations with countries in the Caucasus and Southern Europe. He also led US efforts to advance peaceful settlements of separatist conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Additionally, he coordinated US energy policy in the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas and worked with European countries on issues of tolerance, social integration and Islam.
Epikaira says he was also apparently informed on the moves and decisions of the then Greek government of Costas Karamanlis in areas that concerned energy and foreign policy, and this allowed him to intervene at the spur of the moment when it went against American interests.
His accomplice was former US Ambassador to Athens Daniel Speckhard, responsible for coordinating information, as revealed in the magazine. Speckhard was also the one that coordinated meetings between Mr. Bryza and leading ministers of the Karamanlis government in April 2008.
Turning back the clock to 2008, the US was working hard to overturn the decision by Costas Karamanlis to move ahead with the South Stream and Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipelines that would have created thousands of jobs and generated large sources of income for our country. Epikaira says that Bryza had visited the former Prime Minister during this period, or just before the crucial 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest (where we vetoed FYROM’s accession).
According to the article, Bryza left it to be understood that the Karamanlis government should turn away from the other pipe-line ventures and turn its attention only to the TGI pipeline (which is of American interests) that would transport natural gas from Azerbaijani through Turkey, Greece and on to Italy.
The details of this conversation were recorded by Speckhard notes Epikaira, in yet another cable that was forwarded to the State Department.
According to the article, the Greek side noted that it was important for Greece to take advantage of transporting natural gas supplies from all interested parties, Turkey’s role in the energy sector, as well as how much it wanted to promote the strengthening of Greek-American relations.
What shocked the Greek side after this was Bryza’s response. He said he recognized the right of Greece to seek natural gas from various fields, but this would mean that Greece would then have the right to negotiate its geopolitical position in the area of energy and could possibly “play” with both pipelines. In other words, the American diplomat said that Greece did not have a right to be diplomatic and agree to both projects because this would make Greece a strong player on the global energy market.
In the previous issue, the "Epikaira Magazine" (click here to read that story) a series of never before viewed Wikileaks cables from US Ambassador Daniel V. Speckhard were published who had said days ahead of the national elections in 2009 that Papandreou will win, and that as soon as he gains office he will withdraw the South-Stream and Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline projects, as well as any traces of Russian economic and energy strategic plans that concern the wider region. According to the article in that issue of Epikaira, which features all these documents, Papandreou contacted the Americans and told them that all joint energy projects that went against their interests in the wider region would be “frozen” as soon as he came into office. And worst yet… he also reassured them that he was their man, on the issue of FYROM, the Aegean and Turkey.
Among one of the most interesting telegrams was that of September 25, 2009.
About ten days before the October 2009 elections the US Ambassador to Athens, Daniel V. Speckhard apparently sent a cable to the US State Department telling them that PASOK will be the winning party after the elections. He also went as far as saying that Papandreou guaranteed him that he would be more “active” on matters of foreign policy than his predecessor Mr. Karamanlis.
In the cable, Speckhard also says that Papandreou made it clear to him that he will not follow the same foreign policy that Karamanlis did in regards to Russia and joint energy policies, and Papandreou also noted that he will re-examine the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis energy pipeline project as well as the South-Stream pipeline agreement.
Most importantly, Papandreou apparently also told Speckhard that Greek foreign policy towards Turkey and FYROM would also change. Papandreou also said at the time that once he gained office, he would take control of the Foreign Ministry (which he did) and that after doing so he would immediately alter the foreign policies implemented by Karamanlis.
ISSUE OF FYROM
Shortly after gaining office, and specifically on December 2, 2009, Papandreou met and held talks with present US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. According to Wikipedia, after serving in the Clinton administration, Steinberg was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and the Institution's vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies (2001-2005). Steinberg was then Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin (2006-2009) until appointed US Deputy Secretary of State on January 28, 2009, taking a leave of absence from the School for the duration of his term in office
During this meeting, says the Epikaira article, Papandreou expressed his “flexibility” as far as the name was concerned (FYROM).
As revealed in Epikaira… Papandreou proposed to the Americans the name of “Democracy of Northern Macedonia” erga omnes - meaning for all uses -. This would not of obligated FYROM to alter its constitution to do so and it would not obligate the issue of the language to be brought to the table for discussion either. What this basically means is that Papandreou offered to help the US to gain quick accession for FYROM into NATO (after a brave veto was voiced by Karamanlis in 2008) by allowing the name to be used on an international scale (for diplomatic purposes, trade, etc.), while in its country it would have to use its constitutional name.
Parallel to this Papandreou waived Greece’s right to negotiate the identity and the language of the Republic, thus giving FYROM the breathing room so that they can later make claims on an authentic Slavo-Macedonian language and identity. Papandreou, according to the telegrams, said that Greece was ready to solve the issue immediately if the Prime Minister of FYROM Nikola Gruevski would accept the terms. But Gruevski, who knew that the Americans were desperate to get their foot in the area, and sensed Greece’s retreat on the issue, wanted the whole package and refused the deal.
US INTEREST IN MUSLIM MINORITY OF THRACE
The issue of Epikaira also revealed the involvement of the US Consulate in Thessaloniki in the areas of Thrace and how its ultimate goal was to manipulate the Greek Muslim minority there so that it can serve American interests in the region.
The Greek secret services, who probably brought this separate cable to light, highlight the strong interest by US officials on issues related to the education of the Muslim minority there, going so far as to even exert pressure on teachers that were teaching Greek to children in the Dereios area for instance, such as Hara Nikolopoulou (read her story here).
The Pomaks reside mainly in villages in the Rhodope Mountains in Thrace, in Evros, Xanthi and Rhodope prefectures of Greece. According to the 2001 Greek census it is estimated that in total there are 36,000 Pomaks, of whom, 23,000 live in Xanthi prefecture, 11,000 live in Rhodope prefecture and 2,000 live in Evros prefecture. The language they speak is generally classified as a dialect of Bulgarian, and more specifically is the "Central Rhodope dialect" or Smolyan dialect. Despite their mother language, many Pomaks also self-identify themselves as Turks because of the increased Turkification in the area.
Under Greek law, the Muslim minority (including the Pomaks) has a right to education in its own language, but this area is in Greece, this is Greek land and these children are obligated to learn Greek.
Mrs. Nikolopoulou did what she was trained to do… and also taught these children the Greek language the country's history and culture, and this not only angered Turkey who wants to influence the separation of Thrace from Greece (its Consulate in Komotini has shown signs of this), but it apparently also angered the US Consulate as well which went as far as to “warn” this poor helpless school teacher that she should not take initiatives that involve policies focusing on “minority education”.
The Greek secret services also note that US officials literally combed the area of Thrace and met regularly with representatives from extremist groups and other personalities from the Muslim minority there.
The interest of the US does not stop there. Apparently, says the article in Epikaira, it also wants to “control” the activities of the Muslim community in Athens as well. According to the telegram from the Greek Secret Services, the Americans want to control the minority in Athens so that they can later present an issue of a violation of human and religious rights against Greece on their behalf.
This article will once again be updated tomorrow.
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