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Aside from Turkey, Albania now wants a share of the action in the Aegean and the potential wealth of Greece's seas. Yes, believe it or not folks its not only the Turks who are hovering like vultures over Greece for a share of the Aegean and threatening our country every time we attempt to move ahead with a venture involving Greece's EEZ, but as tragic as this is going to sound, Albania now wants a piece of the action as well! In fact Albania suddenly wants a sizable fillet in the Ionian sea and all this of course suddenly surfaced when it became public knowledge on Sunday night that the Norwegian "Nordic Explorer" (part of the Petroleum-Geo-Services Company -PGS made its appearance in Greek waters).
Reports in Athens are claiming that in -off the record- hush, hush talks with Greek officials, Tirana had mentioned that the Norweigian surveyor ship is planning to investigate areas in the Northern Ionian which are grey... or the politically correct word used by all those having imperialist designs would be "disputed". The truth is that the agreement, was signed on April 2009 by the then Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his counterpart Sali Berisha. Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama (and very close friend to George Papandreou) said at the time of the deal that it lacked transparency in his opinion, and was damaging to Albania’s sovereignty. Because of his bickering, as well as other reasons which we will mention below, 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 (meaning Greece's PASOK party) was staging a full-fledged mud slinging war against Karamanlis, because he had the MANHOOD to delineate a part of Greece's continental shelf!
And if that wasn't enough... just before the first national elections this past year, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras appeared to agree with Albania on this matter, and said in an interview to an Albanian newspaper then that if elected his party would re-negotiate the deal!
Read that story here - SPECIAL REPORT - Why Does SYRIZA Want To Renegotiate EEZ Agreement With Albania?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/06/special-report-why-does-syriza-want-to.html
Getting back to our story, the news about the hunt for hydrocarbons in the Ionian Sea was broadcasted on Albania's "Top Channel" via a representative of their Foreign ministry. A report on defencenet (link further down) quoted him as saying that Ankara will decide if it should re-negotiate the deal with Greece, depending of course on the results of the surveys that are underway. In short, Albania's position now is that if Greece taps into oil in the Ionian sea, then they want a share of the hydrocarbons and do not plan to sign anything until this is achieved. If on the other the surveys do not prove to be promising then Albania will sign the old agreement again!
And to think that half of this population lived and worked in Greece and basically rebuilt its nation from our generosity! Talk about opportunists!
So how does Turkey fit into all of this and what does it hope to gain?
Using Albania to add pressure on our country, Ankara wants to encircle Greece, having permanent defensive operations that begin in Albania and reach the deepest end of the Eastern Mediterranean. (Read the relevant article we featured in 2011 here on hellasfrappe about this very subject by clicking here).
August 27, 2011 - Turkey fixed on encircling Greece with the help of Libyan rebels http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/08/turkey-fixed-on-encircling-greece-with.html
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 Turkish propaganda was endorsing and (possibly funding) the idea of a "Greater Albania" in order to pressure Greece over its designs. Albanians, on the other, who had begun promoting their own expansionist designs in the Balkans, probably teamed up with the Turks and are now probably fired up on causing "trouble".
At the time the article had said that since money is the only item that rules in Albania, our neighbors will not hesitate to give earth and water to the Turks in order to quench their greed. This is why they signed a military cooperation pact with Ankara 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) and from what we learn Ankara is even handing out full-fledged scholarships to Albanians who embrace Islam.
Our opinion here at HellasFrappe is that Turkey is basically using Albania as a scapegoat so that it can promote its Ottoman imperialism dreams. 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. It was published by Professor Ahmet Davutoglu (the present Foreign Minister of Turkey) and is entitled "Strategic depth". In his book, Dautoglu 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).
And all this because Turkey has evolved from a statusquo power to a more assertive and interventionist actor.
It is therefore commonplace to characterise Turkey’s new found interests in its neighbourhood as the corollary of a neo-Ottoman vision. This neo-Ottoman approach would substitute an old secular Kemalist foreign policy (Taşpınar: 2008). Turkish authorities dislike this concept, arguing that it is easily associated with some sort of imperialistic ambition. (Helloo... it is...) But this does not prevent them from making references to a “common history” and “cultural affinity” with the territories of the former Ottoman Empire in public discourses.
The trouble is some countries are buying in on it...
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