VIDEO - HellasFrappe proposes -and implores- all its readers to watch this video... FROM START to FINISH. It is a speech by Frangoulis Frangos, a retired Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff. Frangoulis, who was born in Komotini in 1951, recently published a book titled "What Turkey, What Turks" that aims to change our conception of what Modern Turkey is all about. We have to admit, that we have viewed several speeches from Frangoulis Frangos over the past two months, and we have been late in reviewing his book, but this is because we wanted to read his book first and decide for ourselves whether or not to suggest it to all of you. Well... After reading the book, we not only recommend it to our readers... but we say this is a MUST READ for anyone who thirsts for documentation of the Greeks of Asia Minor or for those who want to understand what Modern Turkey is all about. It is also a great analysis of the Orthodox communities in the wider Balkan region as well, including Albania, and Kosovo. The video above more or less sums this up for you. It was filmed on December 4, 2012 at one of Thessaloniki's HELEXPO's conference halls and it is his most recent speech where he presented his book. This video should be viewed on wide-screen and at top volume. You do not want to miss a word. At some points, his words actually inspired us to jump off our chairs and applaud with pride. Bravo to this man who inspires patriotism in all of us. For telling it like it is. For speaking earnestly and with no-fluff about issues that concern our Diaspora, geopolitics and Greek-Turkish relations. After all of this, we are convinced that this man has a bright future ahead of him. We cannot hide it, we like him a lot and now more so after reading this book.
What Turkey, What Turks
Retired Hellenic Army General Staff Frangoulis Frangos' book "What Turkey, What Turks" is radical vision of Greek-Turkish relations and attempts to expose the real face of the Turkish state. According to him, his contact with various minorities in Turkey have led him to believe that these inhabitants of Asia Minor are actually looking for a light in the lantern and Orthodoxy so as to reconstitute their own NEW Byzantium. All these people, who he notes are not Turks, have every right to identify themselves, ethnically and religiously, something which is a no-no in Turkey.
He says that he first went to Turkey in November 1991. As a young lieutenant colonel who had just arrived in Ankara as the new Military Attache of the Greek Embassy, Fragoulis was not very pleased because he did not really like being stationed there.
Years later, for reasons he lists in his book, he set out to see if there were still traces of Greeks in Asia Minor and he was pleasantly surprised to find out that there is. He said that this quest made him dedicate almost three years of his life and in the summer of 1998, he once again returned to Ankara as Defence Attaché, but this time he came back with an even deeper knowledge of the modern Turkish State.
He said that along with all the research he conducted, he also began to question the emerging neo-Ottomanism, which he notes "dominates those who continue to deny friendships, values and proximity."
In order to document his findings, he massed together information that truly crushes the overall perception we have of Asia Minor and Turkey, beginning with the events that occured about a millennium ago, to the transformation of local Christians to "Turks" and " Muslims' (culminating in the recent revelations about the origin of many top officials and politicians in Turkey, as Erdogan, Kemal himself, even Mehmed II the Conqueror).
Frangos wrote in the preamble that he chose photos of Fatih, Mustafa Kemal and Erdogan as book’s cover because these three men are not Turks. In fact he claims that Ottoman sultan Fatih is Greek as he was buried in a Byzantine church. “Six months before his death he allowed to take picture of him. The back side of the portrait contains a Greek note,” Frangos explains.
On Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the retired General says that he was not born in Thessaloniki but in Malatia and the woman considered his mother in reality is his aunt. (This we believe because there have been reports -even in the Turkish press- that claim that Mustafa Kemal was born in Kurdish and Armenian-populated Malatia and was said to be either Kurd and/or Armenian).
We saved the best for last, Frangoulis notes that incumbent Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grandparents were from Greek populated Trapezounda who actually fought against Turks. And in many interviews he has said that despite having no academic education and knowing only one foreign language, Erdogan has to be given credit for saving Turkey from heavy debt, while he describes him as a good leader.
But he is not that nice towards present Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and actually describes him as arrogant for his attitude toward territorial disputes between our two countries. (Us Too... Applause!)
Moreover, he also says that based on his research he is convinced that only 40% of Turkish population are Turks and it is these very people who want to restore the Ottoman Empire.
He says that Turkey was "eastern and heavily affected by Islam."
Frangoulis Frangos was born in Komotini and entered the Hellenic Army Academy in 1970, graduating in 1974 first of his class and being named a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He is a graduate of the Supreme War School and of the NATO Defence College. He also pursued studies in Law at the University of Athens, continuing with post-graduate courses in European and International Law at the Panteion University. Frangos also received a doctorate in Geopolitics from the Ionian University.
He served in Special Forces units early in his career, qualifying as a paratrooper, as well as in staff and command positions of larger formations, as well as Greece's Army attache and Defence attache in the Greek embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
Frangos commanded the 32nd Marines Brigade in 2002–2003, before being assigned to head the Hellenic National Defence General Staff's Planning Directorate. In 2004 he was promoted to Major General and assumed command of the Inter-service Military Intelligence Directorate.
In 2006 he assumed command of the 16th Mechanized Infantry Division. A year later he was promoted to Lt. General and assumed command of the II Army Corps, and in 2008 he was placed as commander of the First Army in Larissa.
On August 6, 2009, by decision of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence, he was appointed Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, a position he held until a surprise major reshuffle in the Greek military leadership on November 1, 2011 (under the George Papandreou government).
Following this, Frangos retired with the rank of full General and a few months later, or specifically on May 17, 2012 he was named as Minister for National Defence in the caretaker cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos, which led the country until the June 17, general elections.
He speaks English, Russian and Turkish.