I really believe the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) needs to be removed from the political scene, and I say this not from an ideological point of view but mainly from a pragmatic, objective perspective. They say that it is useful beyond the standard Greek positions on national issues, to also explore what is being discussed away from the spotlight and I totally agree and this is exactly what I am going to do because in this country we might mix our ouzo and water, but we cannot mix patriots with Benedict Arnolds.
Before the May 6 elections, and In an interview with Albanian journalist Niko Ago from the SHQIP newspaper, leader of the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Alexis Tsipras said that he was planning to renegotiate.a deal that was signed between Greece and Albania to delineate the continental shelf and maritime borders in the Ionian Sea, where the two neighboring countries' frontiers converge. The agreement, was signed in April 2009 by the then Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his counterpart Sali Berisha. Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama (and friend to George Papandreou) said at the time the deal supposedly lacked transparency and was damaging to Albania’s sovereignty. Sp six parties filed an appeal with the country’s Constitutional Court to stop the accord from being approved. The Socialists’ campaign in Albania was part of a wider effort to challenge Berisha’s government, and at the same time the Socialists (or the PASOK party) in Greece were staging a full-fledged mud slinging war against Karamanlis as well.
And all this... because we attempted to delineate our continental shelf.
So when Tsipras was asked by the reporter on what he was planning to do about these agreements the leader of SYRIZA shockingly said that as soon as his party gains power they will immediately begin re-negotiating this deal so that each country can properly define its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). He added that the process will be based on international law and the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
At this point it should be noted that the bilateral agreements that were signed by Karamanlis and Berisha (together with Foreign Ministers of Albania and Greece -at the time- Basha and Dora Bakoyannis -respectively-), were annulled (illegally) by the Supreme Court of Albania.
The reason I say this is because international agreements cannot be cancelled, so how -and more importantly why- would Tspiras state that he will begin renegotiating something that clearly cannot be renegotiated. Our only conclusion is that Tsipras is working for "others". And if we are correct then we can safely conclude that SYRIZA is treading in dangerous and -unpatriotic- waters.
Freinds, Turkey does not want this agreement between Greece and Albania. In fact Ankara was pressuring Albania to abrogate it's agreement with Greece which recognised Corfu's EEZ.
So now do you see it's not all as clear cut as some want to present it?
What does Turkey hope to gain from this?
In a nutshell, and through this move, Ankara wants to achieve an encirclement of Greece, having permanent defensive operations that begin in Albania and reach the deepest end of the Eastern Mediterranean! (Read the relevant article we featured more than a year ago here on hellasfrappe about this very subject).
Late in 2011 and a little after the announcement of the Greek-Cypriot and Israeli axis, Turkey began making even more moves in Albania.
An article on newsbomb had said at the time that they (meaning Turkish propaganda) are endorsing and (possibly $$) the idea of a "Greater Albania" in order to pressure the Greek side. Albanians, on the other, have begun promoting their own expansionist designs in the Balkans and together with the Turks are now set on causing "trouble".
The article clearly said that money is the only item that rules in Albania and unfortunately our neighbors will give earth and water to the Turks so that they can quench their greed. This is why they signed a military cooperation pact with each other and now the Turkish navy can move comfortably in Albanian territorial waters as well as anchor its naval base in Durres, (another project that was funded by Ankara).
Also, it should be noted that these two countries are collaborating on all levels, including military education (at Turkish military bases) while Ankara is handing out full-fledged scholarships to those who embrace Islam.
Our opinion is that Turkey is basically using Albania as a scapegoat so that it can encircle Greece from all sides and so that it can obviously become the dominating force in the entire region. In fact some believe that Turkey is trying to restore the influence it had in the Balkans and the wider region just like it did when the Ottoman Empire was at its peak.
Aside from the obvious, a book on a new-type of Ottoman Empire only comes to confirm this notion. It was published by Professor Ahmet Davutoglu and is entitled "Strategic depth". In his book, the author notes that the Turkish and Muslim minorities in Bulgaria, Greece, FYROM, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Romania are crucial to Ankara's foreign policy in the Balkans. (p. 200).
Ok... some might say that this is speculation, or a conspiracy theory, so let us stick to some more facts.
In September 2010, about 70 experts on the Ottoman Empire from some 30 states took part in an international symposium at the University of Bilecik in Turkey and according to what was reported they all shared the view that Western historians were biased and have totally misinterpreted Ottoman history. The dean of the University stated at the time that the reason they held this symposium was because they wanted to take the first steps in rewriting Ottoman history.
So what exactly is Neo-Ottomanism? According to Wikipedia Neo-Ottomanism is a word that describes Turkish foreign policy under the Justice and Development Party which took power in 2002 under prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and it is a dramatic shift from the traditional Turkish foreign policy of the Kemalist ideology.
The shift in Turkish foreign policy under Turgut Ozal's government can be described as the first step towards neo-Ottomanism. Kemalist foreign policy used to lean westwards with such determination that it ended up alienating Turkey from its regional neighbors. Israel was the one exception and its friendship with Turkey underlined Ankara's difficulties with the region it inhabited. In contrast, Neo-Ottomanism which seeks to anchor Turkey firmly amongst its own neighbors without losing track of the bigger "plan".
During its peak, the Ottoman Empire controlled the Balkans, most of the Middle East and most of North Africa. Neo-Ottomanism foreign policy encourages increased engagement in these regions as part of Turkey’s growing regional influence.
As such, Turkey uses its soft power to achieve its goals and as such this foreign policy has contributed to an improvement in Turkey's relations with countries such as Iraq, Iran and Syria. However Turkey's relations with Israel, its traditional ally, suffered, especially after the 2008-09 Gaza War and the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.
Ahmet Davutoglu who is the "head architect" of this foreign policy, has however rejected the term "Neo-Ottomanism" to describe his country's new foreign policy. HE says that Turkey is a modern nation, and can build diplomatic relations of equal status with any country which was previously part of the Ottoman lands.In other words, Davutoglu was at pain to emphasize that Turkey has no intention of dominating its neighbors and that the relations it seeks are relations between equal partners, but given the facts... do we really believe him?
Still not convinced?
Well, believe it or not, this grand plan has already begun!
In its first issue of 2011, the Austrian magazine Der Standard wrote that 70 Turkish soap operas conquered the Balkans and are now changing the negative image that the Balkan region had of Turkey. Is the Turkish film industry the tool of Neo-Ottomanist Ahmet Davutoglu's geopolitical game? No one knows, but the Turkish film industry has conquered Greek television and the Greek mainstream media is proudly broadcasting a truckload of their television dramas.
Now back to the interview... and why we needed to analyze what Tsipras said. It is obvious that Mr. Tsipras is doing the bidding of those who want to destabilize the Balkan region, the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean and given all the information above, it is obvious that he is working against Greek interests!
On Greek-Turkish relations he has called for dialogue based on international law and mutual respect of sovereignty and he is in favor of Turkey’s accession to the EU, provided Ankara would remove the threat of war (casus belli) against Greece, but the issue of the continental shelf would be taken to the International Court of The Hague -this is the same stance that George Papandreou had as well-.
He has said that its Greece’s “inalienable right” to proclaim its EEZ and continue with the exploitation of its resources, but -and here is the clincher- he has stressed that once in power he will launch initiatives for agreements with neighboring countries.
Friends, I am not going to tell you who to vote for on June 17th, but one does not gamble on a nation's future. And if you are weighing the national, foreign and economic issues and choose to focus on just the economic... well then all I can say is that if any economic dimwit thinks that SYRIZA is not going to plunder just look at what PASOK did -and how wealthy its members became- after they got elected in 1981.State ownership, massive wealth distribution, heavy unionization is always susceptible to plunder. Combine this with a suspicious foreign policy that clearly does not work in favor of Greece, SYRIZA's stance on illegal immigration, defense, etc... one really has to wonder why citizens are allowing themselves to be seduced by this leftist party.
Signed
Marina Spanos
References
http://borioipirotika.blogspot.gr/2012/06/blog-post_6282.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Ottomanism
http://www.newsbomb.gr/ethnika/story/92044/toyrkalvaniki-thilia