Until now only news sites such as Olympia, Taxalia, and several other blogs had published this tale... And of course HellasFrappe, which is the only blog that has taken all this information, added a few more details here and there, and presented the stories in the English language, FOR ALL TO READ. In fact we are the ONLY English blog on Greek affairs that has been following and featuring reports such as these for the past two years.
We promised you a MEGA Bomb, and we aim to deliver.
If you are not familiar with this controversial tale, then we suggest that you update yourselves with the story we had published on HellasFrappe on June 14, 2012 - the link of which is also provided. So get familiar with the tale first, and then begin reading today's follow-up. CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE
But if you are already up-to-date with this tale, then enjoy!
Turkish-Friendly Mathew Bryza Was Harassing Karamanlis Through Valinakis!
For many months now we have been posting articles and news stories about the mysterious Mathew Bryza. Some of you may recognize the name of Matthew Bryza but for those who don't know who he is, Mr. Bryza is a diplomat who was directly/indirectly (no one knows) involved in a story that deals with sex, marriage and natural gas and oil pipelines.
On June 29, 2007, Mr. Bryza, cast a warning shot to the then prime minister Costas Karamanlis in a story that was featured in the Greek daily "TO VIMA" stating that Karamanlis should "not move ahead with the pipeline" project. (Meaning the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline). Karamanlis did not take any of this very seriously, and went about his business and several days later the former PM signed the agreement with (the then) Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin.
This was obviously not appreciated by all those who were behind Mr. Bryza.
All of a sudden on August 23, 2007 a whopping 170 fires suddenly and mysteriously were ignited all over the Peloponnese. Many innocent people lost their lives and this region of Greece suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.
Across the Aegean, on the very same day, or in Constantinople, Bryza was marrying his sweetheart, or Turkish journalist Zeyno Baran, who had also quite coincidentally published a similar article in the March 14, 2007 edition of the US based NATIONAL REVIEW about the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, also warning about the dangers of the Greek, Bulgarian and Russian energy agreement.
Since then much has happened. Bryza came under attack by US politicians for being too Turko-friendly. (Read more about that by clicking HERE)
Today, new information has been revealed about Mr. Bryza and the Turkish lobby in the US which apparently exerted a lot of pressure on the Karamanlis government for its pro-Russian stance (or a planned energy cooperation agreement between Athens and Moscow).
The protagonist, or the man who apparently exerted the most pressure, was none other than Mr. Matthew Bryza. Today Bryza continues to exert pressure wherever he can. Why you ask? Simple: The Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, and the South-Stream pipeline would render Turkey's energy role in the region as totally useless! That is why! But we will talk about this in more detail a little further down and explain why he wants Turkey to be a dominant force in the region, and why he continues to block Greece on all fronts, from ever joining the new European energy map.
According to an article by Ioanna Laura which was published in the Sunday edition of Real News, a secret meeting was held in Brussels on June 2007 between Karamanlis, (Bulgaria's) Stanishev and (Italy's) Prodi. The author claims that the three premiers left the summit at the same time and later met to discuss the South-Stream project, away from the American eyes that were watching them like hawks. And while this was going on, Yiannis Valinakis who was acting Deputy Foreign Minister at the time, was apparently being harassed by his US counterpart Matt Bryza.
(Valinakis, is considered to be a very close associate and family friend of Karamanlis, and therefore was an easy target for those wanting to get their message across).
Pressure Over South Stream
While serving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (from 2004 and until 2009), Valinakis was in charge of European and Turkish affairs. At first he served under veteran diplomat Petros Molyviatis and later on under Dora Bakoyanni. The author of the article in Real News allows it to be understood that the Americans were pinning Valinakis to the wall at the time (metaphorically speaking of course) over the pipeline projects.
The front pages of the Greek press leave no room for misinterpretation (to all the above).
"All of Greece in flames"
"American displeasure for the pipeline,"
Valinakis claims that at every given opportunity, every meeting, the discussion would be the same. How will the US cancel the energy cooperation deal between Greece and Russia.
Mathew Bryza apparently exerted the most pressure.
Mr. Valinakis, who is currently heading the Law Department at the Neapolis University in Cyprus, notes two distinctive discussions he held with Mr. Bryza, both of which clearly show that the Americans were very discontent over Costas Karamanlis' decision to participate in the South Stream pipeline project.
The first incident, according to the author, occurred in March 2007 at Valinakis' home in Rafina. Mathew Bryza decided to leave out the small talk and cut straight to the chase.
"There are European countries that have complaints against the policies of the Greek government in the energy sector. Regardless of your intentions, you are effectively endorsing Europe's dependence on Russian gas, and therefore Russian interests, "said Bryza.Separately, in September 2008 and in one of the many meetings held in New York, a "friendly" conversation was held while enjoying cocktails at the Waldorf Astoria. Every time Valinakis attempted to push forward Greece's positions on Turkey and the issue of Cyprus, Bryza would turn the conversation around to the issues of energy.
"At that particular meeting, in fact, he directly linked the progress in our national issues with the cancellation of South Stream", remembers Valinakis.Certainly the relaxed conversation proved revelatory of the US's intentions.
"We cannot help (Greece) over the issues that you are raising, such as Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue, when you are endorsing Russian interests," said Bryza.Valinakis, who was becoming frustrated with this constant bickering said:
"You have to help us, because you too will benefit, if there is there isn't tension in the Aegean. In regards to energy matters, they are being handled by the prime minister and Dora Bakoyannis. Greece follows an independent energy policy," responded Valinakis.Surprisingly when Valinakis informed him that the government had already begun talks with Libya's Gaddafi on the issue of the EEZ, and in an attempt to convince him that Greece was following an open foreign policy, Bryza replied:
"That is good. You can collaborate with Libya, you can cooperate with other countries, but (you can) not (cooperate) with Russia! "On May 2008, Valinakis responded publicly to Bryza's harassment:
"The Prime Minister and the government are promoting and safeguarding Greek national interests with a serious and responsible manner on all fronts the best way they can. Consequently, any suggestions, wherever they may come from, do not amount to anything and only rather make noise."The Secret Tripartite Meeting In Brussels
The newspaper also talks about a secret meeting that was held between the prime ministers of Greece, Bulgaria and Italy to discuss the pipeline projects. At the time, the wiretapping scandal against Karamanlis had already made headlines in Athens, and the US was apparently monitoring the former PM's every move. His government decided to take all the necessary precautions so as not to threaten the impending agreement and a secret tripartite meeting was organized and held between all three premiers (June 2007).
The Brussels summit was the perfect setting. Costas Karamanlis, Sergey Stanishev and Mario Prodi had agreed to leave the table session at the same time. All three delegations accompanying them were also briefed over the plan. They all ascended to the 7th floor, and to the offices of the Greek delegation, and they gathered in the conference room. This is where they ironed out all the details over the South Stream pipeline project, or so the report in Real News says.
Three days later in Constantinople, Greece and Russia announced their decision to deepen their cooperation beyond the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis venture. The news took the Americans by surprise. So much so that Real News claims that the American ambassador in Athens left immediately after this announcement was made.
At the time, the United States wanted to keep Russia away from taking part in the new European energy map. They were rather feverishly promoting the ITGI pipeline, which would run from Azerbaijan, through Turkey, Greece and then to Italy. The whole idea was that the pipeline would fill with Azeri gas, not Russian, because there were American interests endorsing it.
Polydoras Confirms Harrasement Also
According to the same report, former Vice President of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Byron Polydoras also had a similar conversation with Mr. Speckhard in 2009. Mr. Speckhard was apparently holding a dinner for the Public Order Minister of Western Samoa and had invited six Greek deputies to attend. During the dinner, Speckhard began to talk about Greece's energy policies.
"What has gotten into you with South Stream", he asked Polydoras. No, this cannot happen. Understand that this is a geopolitical issue."
"We will oppose Russia? Why not assign Chancellor Schroeder to do so? Besides, these pipelines cannot compete with one another. Europe needs four or five (pipelines) and it still won't satisfy its energy needs," answered Polydoras.Till this day the former vice-president of parliament wonders why the Americans wanted to torpedo this deal so much.
And this is where the revelations end. But the story intrigued us so much here at HellasFrappe that we began scanning the internet to find even more information about Mr. Bryza, and the reasons why he defends the energy role of Turkey so much. We hit a jackpot. Keep on reading!
Pipelines To Greece Blocked By Soros And Turkey
The former American diplomat's persistence to cancel Greece's energy plans are not only because some hotheads in Washington sent out a few orders, apparently he also acts on behalf of other interests as well. In fact every geostrategical move that has been adopted by Greece over the last few years has been literally undermined by Mr. Bryza.
Why? Bryza did everything in the context of US policy to cancel the agreement between Greece and Russia, in the framework of weakening Moscow's presence in Europe.
The Greek government had to be punished for being disobedient, and for wanting to support its own interests! Who can forget the phrase "asymmetric threats", which was stated by some Greek ministers at the time?
(Or what about the statements which were made by former Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz who actually acknowledged that Turkish agents were responsible for some of the catastrophic fires in 2007? Or what about the sudden burst of political scandals that headlined the Greek and foreign press and that eventually drove the country to early elections and the rise of Papandreou?)
Think about it. The first thing that George Papandreou did when he rose to power was to freeze the South Stream project.
Obviously this pleased Mr. Bryza and for a while he was relieved of his duties and unable to continue blocking Greece's participation in the pipeline race. But this all changed in February 2013. In his capacity as the new Director of the International Centre for Defense Studies (ICDS) Mr. Bryza "struck again."
While addressing the "Athens Energy Forum 2013" international conference, Bryza spoke out against the bid to award Russian companies with the DEPA DESFA companies, but of course he did not specify whether the money from the financial loss suffered by Greece would be paid by the US. (We personally are convinced that he just does not care.)
He then openly (and without any shame) spoke in favor of transporting the natural gas that has been discovered in Cyprus and Israel via Turkey to Greece. In other words, Turkey will control the on-off button, or the flow of gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe! The participants at the event were completely dumbfounded by what Bryza suggested, but not surprised. He even argued that this option was more economical than the construction of an undersea pipeline that would connect Cyprus with Greece.
During his speech he also said he believed that the Government of Azerbaijan (he was a former ambassador to Azerbaijan) and the European Commission are in favor of the Nabucco pipeline to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz deposit to Europe, since it offers access to more countries.
In other words, Bryza, stood up in front of the members of the Greek government -who were present at the event- and without any hesitation left it to be understood that Greece has no hope to ever join the energy pipeline game, only Turkey does!
Some may argue that Bryza's statements were random, but were they? And here is where it really gets interesting!
Bryza is very chummy, chummy with multi-billionaire George Soros, as well as with Turkish companies that operate in the energy sector, so is it safe to assume that his statements were anything but?
We think so.
Don't take our word for it, Bryza's relationship with Soros was exposed in 2008 by the leader of Georgia's opposition Labor Party Mr. Salwa Natelasvili who had accused the then Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili of being a puppet of the multi-billionaire. At the time Natelasvili had argued that Bryza was a supporting pillar of Soros and the Georgian politician had even demanded that Bryza leave the country. (It should be remembered that at the time Bryza held the position of US secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.)
Natelasvili's accusations are not that far-fetched, because it is well known that George Soros' network maintains very close relations with the Saakashvili regime. This network had apparently financed a series of methodical "democratic revolutions" such as the "Rose Revolution" in Adjara, which sought to weaken the autonomous regions of Georgia in a pledge to satisfy Soros greed.
Bryza's Relations With Turkey
Aside from his Turkish wife, Bryza holds very strong relations with other officials in Ankara. When he was relieved of his diplomatic duties, the Turkish hydrocarbon company "Turcas Petrol" recruited him (June 2012). The latter company maintains "privileged" relations with Azerbaijan and specifically the State-owned SOCAR company. (It should be noted that Turcas Petrol is an affiliate of SOCAR). Bryza also works as a consultant on business and democratic development, and is a board member of several private companies in Turkey.
And obviously in a ploy to exert political pressure wherever he wants to, Bryza managed to also get appointed as the Director of the International Centre for Defense Studies, a Tallinn-based think tank. (March 1, 2012 ).
His wife, Zeyno Baran, who had published an article in the well known "National Review" slamming the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline project holds similar positions. She is the Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, which is a think tank located in Washington DC. Also, she is a Turkish American scholar on issues ranging from US-Turkey relations, Islamist ideology and energy security in Europe and Asia.
A match made in (energy) heaven!
Bryza and his wife had (and still have) one mission and one mission only, to block Greece from ever joining the new European energy map. In fact the two separate interests that support this couple have one common goal which is to totally exclude our country from ever developing its energy potential, as well as taking part in the pipeline race.
Soros because he wants to get his hands on Greek property, and specifically on the country's mineral wealth, and Turkey simply because they want to weaken Greece's position so that they can quench their imperialistic appetites in the Aegean, Thrace, or wherever else they wish.
Today, most of what this couple says is completely rejected, but nonetheless they did enough damage.
Europe Snubs South-Stream, But Southern Europe Embraces It
And while Europe Tackles the issue of energy, Eastern Europe unanimously placed its bet on the South Stream project. People in this region chose to protect their national interests in spite of all temptations and threats from Brussels and Washington. Reports several weeks ago said that the South Stream business blueprint is complete and it is entering construction stage. By the end of 2018 the pipeline is planned to reach a transport capacity of 63 billion cubic meters per year – enough gigajoules to supply energy needs of 38 million households.
So what encouraged the pro-South Stream choice of Eastern European political elites presuming their frosty relations with Russia and why did they not resort to broadly advertised alternatives? The not-so-obvious answers to these geopolitical riddles are conditioned by cold math and economic forecasting. Independent economic feasibility studies show that expensive and bulky South Stream is the only realistic way to guarantee reliable natural gas supplies to Europe.
It will play a pivotal role in the regional energy security up to 2030-es. Other sources like nuclear power or renewable sources are nothing more than perspective alternatives.
National leaders in Budapest and Belgrade understand very well: overoptimistic advertisements of wind energy on Euronews TV channel will not power heating networks in their countries. And the notorious Cyprus affair ruined the last remnants of their belief in "European solidarity".
It is often claimed, that nuclear energy can be a solution. But Germany, the industrial powerhouse of Europe, has recently banned the use of nuclear power. Green party in Berlin took advantage of overwhelming support after the Fukushima incident. Therefore, in the mid-term Germany's energy demand will be satisfied by supplies via the completed Nord Stream and the emerging South Stream. A country-by-country survey of the South Stream milestones may shed some light on the key motives behind the strategic decision of the Eastern European countries to opt for this pipeline.
Given the geopolitical importance of energy supplies to Europe, it is very probable that in the long term Nabucco West will eventually be completed, although the South Stream being a large-scale project may by that time capture lion's share of the market.
The HellasFrappe Team
References
- http://olympia.gr/2013/04/15/%CE%BF-%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%http://www.newsbomb.gr/politikh/story/298276/to-toyrkofilo-lompi-ekvi
- http://www.hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2013/02/special-report-us-cyprus-
- http://www.newsbomb.gr/politikh/story/283856/mplokarei-toys-agogoys-stin-
- http://www.newsbomb.gr/politikh/story/283519/o-skoteinos-rolos-toy-mathioy-
- http://www.parapolitika.gr/ArticleDetails/tabid/63/ArticleID/577809/O-Karamanlis-
- http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/south-stream-shapes-european-energy-
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