PROVOCATION: Smugglers hand out brochures to immigrants on Turkish coast titled "Welcome to Greece!" (PICS)

The illegal trafficking of people into Greece is more or less known. Every day new evidence comes to light exposing this illegal activity and the international circuits who conveniently exploit pleasant terms such as "humanitarian aid" and "human rights" to continue with business as usual. It is an indisputable fact that there is a plan to destabilize Europe with the inflow of all these people, and especially the countries in the Southern Mediterranean. It is also a multi-billion dollar industry that is making our neighbor, Turkey, very wealthy.

The trafficking of illegal immigrants into Greece does not concern spontaneous floods of "persecuted refugees" since all these people sail from the Turkish coastline where there is no war at all. It is rather about a system that has a state "signature" and reaps in huge profits for the Turkish Coast Guard and other such authorities.

Let us not forget that many of those disguised as illegal immigrants could possibly be dangerous criminals who mix within the crowds.

It was recently revealed that brochures titled "Welcome To Greece" were handed out to masses of illegal immigrants, that were getting set to cross illegally into Greece. The scandalous brochure (seen in the pictures above), depict an immigrant who has just crossed illegally into Greece facing the sunrise.

Keep on reading... This only gets better!

Inside the brochure, according to the military news site defencenet which exposed this story, are phrases in Greek with an explanation in English so that the user (or illegal migrants) can know a couple of phrases before they land on Greek soil.

What is interesting and certainly worth noting, is that this brochure is being distributed on Turkish territory and this is very important because it means that this is being conducted with the collaboration of Turkish authorities. Don't expect the present government to investigate this provocation because it has clearly advocated for an open door policy as far as illegal immigrants are concerned.

According to defencenet, the brochure belongs to an international "anti-racist" organization, which provides illegal immigrants with information and guidelines on how not to give their fingerprints in the various countries they travel on to, but only to Greek authorities so that if they ever get caught, they can once again be returned Greece.

The brochure also provides illegal immigrants with information on where all the detention centers are located, various types of Greek legislation, contact information for legal counseling, etc.

The present government is obligated to investigate this claim thoroughly and at the same time alter its policy on the flow of illegal immigrants into Greece, because if it doesn't then we can safely assume that they too are aiding and supporting international trafficking.

Reference in Greek - defencenet

Balkans on Fire: FYROManian Maidan & the Ottoman Trail

The unrest in FYROM was unexpected to the uninitiated. They started with an opposition party announcement that police is covering up the killing of a young man by prime minister's security detail in 2011. Several experts have linked this sudden unrest, which threatens to destabilize not only FYROM but the Balkans as a whole, with the country's refusal to join sanctions and Skopje's support for the Turkish Stream. This version assumes, at the conspiracy level theory, that the unrest was inspired by US intelligence services which are trying to make life difficult for Russia.

Expert Aleksandr Sobyanin, the Director of Strategic Planning Service of the Border Area Cooperation Association, rejected it. In his view, the unrest in FYROM has nothing to do with Turkish Stream. Paradoxical, isn't it? But if we are to dig deeper, we'll realize the aims of the complex game played by the world's intelligence services in the Balkans, including the Turkish MIT which is playing the first fiddle.

Background Note: MIT is the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey, or the National Security Service.

For starters, the Balkans are penetrated by the extensive spider web of the Albanian  Mafia which is wholly controlled by MIT. The Albanians' business in Europe consists of drugs and other smuggled goods.

Kosovo Albanians control 70% of Germany's and Switzerland's heroin market.

The Balkans have become a transit corridor which originates in South-Eastern Asia. The so-called Balkan Route carries 80% of all drugs sold in Europe. Albania, Kosovo, and western FYROM have become a large drug warehouse.

Opium from Afghanistan and Pakistan is processed in Turkey, then sent to Europe via Kosovo and Czech Republic. Then the Balkan Route continues to Great Britain through the French port of Calais. Turkey supports the Albanian drug trade on state level, through its embassies, consulates, and cultural centers.

Albanian Mafia is today the most powerful in Europe, having crushed even the Cosa Nostra and become a de-facto branch of Al-Qaeda in Europe.

It is invulnerable to police infiltration because it is built on familial clans which gives the criminal network and the Turkish intelligence that is backing it considerable ability to destabilize the situation in any European country.

Some claim that the Albanian, and, therefore, the Turkish trail, should be sought even in the Charlie Hebdo affair. It can't be ruled out that's what the two investigators from Limoges, who committed suicide in suspicious circumstances, were trying to unravel.

On May 10th a group of Albanian militants invaded Kumanovo, which is populated by a concentrated Albanian minority, in order to launch a separatist uprising. The police was able to neutralize the intruders with some difficulty. Eight police died.

The Prime Minister of FYROM Nikola Gruyevsky was then accused of inability to deal with the Albanian Mafia, which provoked additional unrest.

Europe right now is gravely worried about the possibility of a big war in the Balkans. There are good reasons for such worries. Albanians have always gotten what they wanted and their dream is the creation of  Greater Albania.

Background Note: Greater Albania is the pan-Albanian idea of uniting all territories which are or were at any point in time inhabited by the Albanian ethnos. Most of Greater Albania is located on the territory of former Yugoslavia. In the event of successful implementation of the project, the contemporary Albania would be joined by north-western portions of FYROM, southern areas of Serbia including Kosovo and Preshevo valley, and the southern regions of Montenegro which are populated by Albanians. It should also be noted that Albanian nationalist ideologues consider northern parts of Greece their territory as well.

The likelihood of unrest expanding to the point of reaching the stage of controlled chaos is quite high in several Balkan states. It can't be ruled out that European great powers, France and Germany, will turn a blind eye on it, hoping that the Albanian nationalists will neutralize the tendency by several small European states, including FYROM but also Greece and Serbia, to pursue an independent economic and political course. But the real beneficiary of the next big Balkan war would be Turkey.

Its president Erdogan, who is backed by the army, concluded an alliance with Turkey's Islamists as part of a general effort to restore the Ottoman Empire.

Already five years ago Turkey's Prime Minister Akhmet Davutoglu described Turkey's geostrategic vectors:

     "We'll make the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East together with Turkey the center of future international politics. This is the objective of Turkey's foreign policy and we will reach it. There are more Bosnians in Turkey than in Bosnians, more Abkhaz and Chechens than in Abkhazia and Chechnya, more Albanians than in Albania, because that's our Ottoman inheritance."

The Albanians are being used as an instrument. Their task is to create chaos in the Balkans, and turn them into Europe's Somalia.

Right now Ukraine is being "somalized".

The Balkans are next in line.

When the suffering of the Balkan peoples becomes unbearable, when a genuine humanitarian catastrophe starts unfolding, then Turkish peacekeepers will appear "on a white horse." The Turkish Army will harshly suppress Albanian crime networks, stop the bloodshed, and will de-facto control problem territories. Thus re-establishing Ottoman possessions in Europe.

The second vector of Ottoman expansion is the Middle East.

Here the Turks can get only as far as Syria, which Russia will never give up, not to the Turks nor to ISIS. Likewise Turkey has no prospects for success in the foreseeable future in the Caucasus, and their leaders understand it.

Therefore Russian diplomacy, which understands the "Turkish game" perfectly well, is conducting itself in a correct and even calm manner when commenting on Balkan events.

As of right now Turkey's schemes don't threaten Russia's interests. Moreover, Russia's intervention in the Balkans would be too big a burden to bear, considering our current stand-off with the West. The US is limiting itself to general editing of the Balkan scenario because they, too, would benefit from controlled chaos.

Nobody talks out loud about their intentions. Everyone is calling for peace. And, as often happens in such cases, war is becoming inevitable.

OCC247

GEOPOLITICS: Russia Turkey and the New Greek Sirtaki

According to geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl, the European Union has an uncanny knack for shooting itself in the foot. He claims that under strong pressure from a Russo-phobic Washington administration and various Russo-phobic EU governments, Brussels decided to take steps in 2014 to block the bilateral agreements between Russia’s state Gazprom and EU countries such as Greece and Bulgaria to buy gas from a new Russian pipeline that was to have been called South Stream, the southern counterpart to the Gazprom-Germany North Stream line.

F. William Engdahl (NEO) - For the neoconservatives in the Obama State Department and Pentagon, that would have forged far too strong EU-Russia economic ties that would significantly weaken America’s ability to blackmail the EU. The EU Commission is brazenly violating all legal precepts by trying to enforce, retroactively, new laws that they claim Gazprom has violated. Further they forced the weak government of Bulgaria last year to back out of their Gazprom contract.

Washington’s Russo-phobes were gloating as they fantasized about getting a nuclear deal with Russia’s ally Iran that could woo Teheran to double-cross Moscow and sell Iranian gas from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, via another pipeline through to Iran’s city of Bazargan at the border with Turkey where it would transit Turkey on to Greece and Italy.

Unlike the failed US Nabucco gas project which lacked gas, the Persian Pipeline, were Iran to be foolish enough to let Washington control it, would have gas, lots of it to weaken Russia’s hold on EU gas markets that were previously supplied via Gazprom via older Ukraine pipelines.

Putin calls EU bluff

As we noted at the time last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin caught the EU by surprise when he announced cancellation of the South Stream Gazprom EU project during a visit in Turkey with President Erdogan. There Putin proposed instead an alternative that would pipe Russia’s gas through Turkey to the door of EU member Greece. There different EU states could “take it or leave it.” The advantage for Gazprom and Russia is that they would not be responsible for construction of the needed EU pipelines.

When he announced the decision, he stated bluntly, “If Europe doesn’t want to realize this, then it means it won’t be realized. We will redirect the flow of our energy resources to other regions of the world. We couldn’t get necessary permissions from Bulgaria, so we cannot continue with the project. We can’t make all the investment just to be stopped at the Bulgarian border. Of course, this is the choice of our friends in Europe.” South Stream would have provided secure delivery to southern EU countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Croatia and also Serbia. It would avoid the current transit pipelines running through Ukraine.

Now less than six months later Russia and Turkey have completed the landmark deal to begin deliveries of Gazprom Russian gas via a new “Turkish Stream” pipeline into and across Turkey through a pipeline now in construction. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller announced on May 7 that, “An agreement has been made on the beginning of exploitation and deliveries of [Russian] gas along the Turkish Stream in December 2016.” The statement came following Miller’s meeting earlier in the day with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız. The new pipeline will travel through Turkey to a gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border for further distribution to European customers.

A geopolitical cherry on top

And only minutes after the successful Russia-Turkish agreement, Putin, reported to be a master chess player, made a master geopolitical chess move into the European Union disaster that is called the Eurozone.

Greek news outlet, Capital.gr, reported that the very same day Miller’s Turkey Gazprom deal was finalized, Putin had an apparently very cordial phone chat with Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras. After the talk, Putin’s office released a statement that Putin had told Tsipras that Russia would be willing to extend money to Greece in return for Greek participation in the Turkish Stream project into the EU. The Kremlin statement said, “In that context, the Russian side confirmed its willingness to consider the issue of extending financing to state and private companies that will cooperate in the project.”

    In Tsipras’ April 8 meeting with Putin Russia denied it had made a deal on energy; that all changed on May 7 after Turkey finalized Turkish Stream

After Tsipras’ talks with Putin in Moscow on April 8, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, issued a denial of Der Spiegel reports that the two had come to an agreement in which Moscow would advance the cash-desperate Greek government with an immediate €5 billion cash advance from Russia based on expected future profits linked to the pipeline. The Greek energy minister said at the time that Athens would repay Moscow after 2019, when the pipeline is expected to start operating.

That was on April 8. Flash forward to May 7 and the finalization of the Russia-Turkish Stream deal, and it seems now that there is also a Russia-Greece deal to advance Athens the sizeable cash sum, just before Athens must come up with large sums to repay IMF and EU loans in order to get more senseless EU and ECB “support.” The difference was clearly the finalization of the Turkish Stream. Now EU bureaucrats in Brussels have new gas pains as Putin puts a Greek cherry atop Moscow’s Turkish geopolitical deal on gas.

If the Russia cash advance to Tsipras comes to pass, not only will Athens be able to dance a Sirtaki. This time it will be a dance in which the role of Zorba is played by a Russian, Vladimir Putin, not the Mexican, Anthony Quinn.

Wolfgang Schaüble, Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker all will have three options. They can decide to stand on the sidelines and clap to the sensuous rhythms of the new Sirtaki. They can join in the dance by refusing Washington blackmail on renewing EU economic sanctions against Russia. Or they can go on to boycott the dance and sink deeper into a new crisis of the Euro.

The ongoing panic selloff in German bond markets over recent days suggests it might be wise for the Berlin government to consider an entire new choreography for its European Grand Strategy. The old Atlantic NATO dance is rapidly becoming a Danse Macabre for Germany and for Europe. Putin’s Sirtaki would be far more fun for Europe and the world.

The author, F. William Engdahl, is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

PROVOCATION: 70 Turkish warships flood Aegean - Warship spotted near shores of Arkadia!

credit defencenet

A huge Turkish armada consisting of well over 70 warships decided to sail around the Aegean on Friday alarming authorities at Greece's National Operations Centre. Authorities who suddenly saw their radars full of red dots from the numerous Turkish warships claim that they massed together a few miles south of Mount Athos and were spotted as far south as the island of Kythira!

A report on defencenet claims that one warship, specifically the F-243 YILDIRIM (MEKO 200 Track I) frigate was even spotted near the coast of Arcadia (!) in the Peloponnese (but was closely monitored by the Hellenic navy).

At the same time a TPC from the Turkish Navy made its presence known a few miles east of the island of Hydra (south of the Attica coast) and another Turkish frigate, the TCG Gokceada (F-494) class C.H Perry, was sailing south southwest of Kythira and northwest of Crete!

     "This has never occurred before with such intensity," a senior officer from the Hellenic Navy told Defencenet adding that "there is an ongoing (naval) exercise (tittled) DENIZKURDU-15 but it is clear that the Turkish Navy is attempting to demonstrate the high availability of its vessels."

The Hellenic navy did not sit idly by and swallow this Turkish show of power. From what has been reported, at least 20 units developed in the Aegean showing our neighbors who the boss of this sea is. With strategic moves and the correct positioning, our boys were able to easily control the movement of this huge Turkish fleet with fewer warships.

The Turkish naval exercises began on May 13th and are due to end on April 18th. According to the article, the purpose of these exercises aims at working with commercial vessels using NATO procedures. From what we learn the exercises are being conducted in the northern Aegean, but as we can all see Turkey once again decided to flex its muscles against its so-called NATO ally Greece and trigger our national sentiment by provokingly spreading its presence throughout the Aegean.

Reference in Greek - defencenet

R. T. Erdogan to new Turkish Cypriot leader: Remember who's the boss

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has engaged in a war of words with the newly-elected leader of Turkish Cypriots over the nature of the relationship between the two countries.

      “Do his ears hear what he says?” President Erdoğan said during a press conference on April 27 after being asked by a journalist if he approved of a recent statement by Mustafa Akinci, the new president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Akıncı, a leftist moderate who has promised to press for a peace deal in ethnically-split Cyprus, was elected the TRNC’s president in a run-off on April 26. He had reiterated his position that the status of the relationship between Turkey and Turkish Cyprus should change.

      “It should be a relationship of brothers/sisters, not a relationship of a motherland and her child,” he had said. “Even working together as brothers has its conditions. We paid a price for northern Cyprus. We gave martyrs and we continue to pay a price,” Erdoğan said on April 27. "For Turkey, northern Cyprus is our baby. We will continue to look at it the way a mother looks at her baby,” he added.

Akıncı, whose live interview with CNN Türk television was interrupted due to Erdoğan’s press conference, fired back immediately.

After listening to Erdoğan’s words in the studio, Akıncı stressed on air he had been elected president by Turkish Cypriots.

     “Doesn’t Turkey want to see its baby grow up? Should we always stay a baby?” he asked, stressing he stood behind his words, which were “heard not only by [his] ears, but uttered by [his] conscience, heart and brain.” 

Akıncı then cut the interview short, saying he had to answer a phone call from Erdoğan.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News

Fuel shortages leave Greece helpless against Turkey, says a report in Newsweek

The lack of fuel has left the Greek Armed Forces helpless against the ever-increasing Turkish aggression, claims a report in Newsweek. According to the article, the financial crisis has put a major strain on the supply of fuel, leaving the Greek military unable to defend itself against acts of aggression.

Panteion University Professor and military expert Kostas Koliopoulos told the American magazine that “Turkey is the reason we have very large armed forces. And now Turkey is sensing a shift in the balance of power. Their increased activities in the Aegean are an attempt to wear us out”.

Furthermore, the article points that the Turkish Air Force has escalated its violations of Greek airspace in recent times. Meanwhile, in spite of the financial crisis, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed that  Greece spent 4 billion euros (2.5% GDP) on defense in 2014, which is the highest amongst European countries.

The Institutes’ head of military expenditure project Sam Perlo-Freeman questioned the necessity of some of the military purchases, given the critical need for fuel. The magazine article underlined that Turkey is aware that “Greece has to respond” whenever its territorial waters or airspace are violated, putting a further strain on resources.

More at Newsweek

Lafazanis in favour of Turkish Stream pipeline - Russian natural gas to EU via Greece

Productive Reconstruction, Environment & Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis on Tuesday referred to the outcome of his two-day visit to Moscow ending Monday, underlining that he is in favour of the extension of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline - planned to reach the Greek-Turkish borders - to carry Russian natural gas to Europe via Greece.

The minister clarified that the final decision will be reached on collective government level and by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is visiting Moscow on April 8, pointing out that if the plan is approved the benefits for the country will be "from exceptional to quite exceptional."

He also announced that Russian companies will participate in the hydrocarbon exploration in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete. He referred to the maritime zone delimitation based on international law, noting that this is a firm government position and will benefit both Greece and Turkey.

In regions where Turkey has no legal claim, exploration can take place within the 6 mile limit, he said.

If adopted, the natural gas pipeline plan provides that Russian natural gas will reach central Europe through FYROM and Serbia after crossing the Greek-Turkish borders. Lafazanis said that Europe needs the Russian natural gas and underlined that this pipeline should not have the fate of previous plans, like the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream natural gas pipeline. He also expressed opposition to Russia being placed in an "energy quarantine."

The minister stressed that if this pipeline is not built, Russia will be linked with Europe only via Germany and Europe's germanization will be further reinforced, raising obstacles to equal cooperation between countries and peoples.

He said that the extension of the pipeline will be made based on national and European legislation, underlining that "Greece has no complexes, is nobody's satellite and is not subordinate energy-wise to any major power or alliance of countries. Greece wants to exercise an independent national energy policy that will serve national interest," he said, adding that it is unthinkable and unacceptable the fact that agreements between EU states and third countries have to be checked in advance by the EU.

     "We want to develop an energy policy that will cut energy prices and the cost of energy supply in raw material," he underlined.

Referring to the talks he had in Moscow with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Garzprom's Alexey Miller, the minister said that they discussed issues concerning the natural gas supply price and the take or pay agreement, adding that the Russian side pledged that Russian companies will participate in the tender for hydrocarbon exploration in 20 offshore blocks in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete.

Lafazanis said that he is against the EU embargo on Russia and asked that Greek products be exempt from the Russian embargo on EU farm products, noting that he expects a positive outcome during the prime minister's visit to the Russian capital.

He also said that the issue of Greece's financing by Russia was not raised and as regards privatizations, he pointed out that there is no question of privatization of public-run energy production companies.

Sources: ANA-MPA, enikos, protothema, To Vima

Historic Greek Orthodox Church being renovated after 142 years in S.Turkey

The Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Georgios Church, which is gound ten miles from the center of Alanya, near the resort town of Antalya and within the limits of the village of Hacı Mehmetli in Turkey is apparently being restored by the municipality.

According to reports, the Alanya municipality is supervising the TRY 138,000 renovation and the church will soon be used as house of worship, cultural center and multi-purpose hall.

The property rights were transferred in 2013 from the Directorate of Foundations to the Alanya Municipality for ten years. The renovation of the church was approved by the Antalya Regional, Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board, and it is expected to be finished within four months.

Stating that Alanya has been a home to many civilizations over the centuries, Alanya’s Mayor Adem Murat Yücel said, “To protect Alanya’s history, we have begun renovating it for the tourism of the region.”

The exact date of the church's construction is not known. From the inscription, a carving in both Greek and Turkish and exhibited in the Museum of Alanya, it was last restored in 1873. By the year 1924 the church was used continuously.

More recently, the building's use underwent a renaissance and has been made available to the Russian Orthodox Christians in the city once a month for services.

The building will now be restored as close to to its original state as possible. An official from the municipality said, “We have information which indicates that before the population transfer between Greece and Turkey in 1922, it was used as a place of worship. Afterwards worshippers were able to pray here on special days and with official permission.”

pravoslavie

PROVOCATION - New Greek-Turkish dogfight over the Aegean

credit Defencenet

According to the National Defence General Staff, six Turkish F-16 fighter jets violated Greek airspace at 11:04 (local time) on Monday between the islands of Lesvos and Chios (just before flying over the Fournon islands), without having submitted a flight plan.

Greek F-16 fighter jets immediately took off from the island of Skyros and put missile firing parameters -long-range AIM-120 (BVR)- against the Turkish fighters. (On account of the low availability of Mirage 2000-5 and F-4E Peace Icarus, the F-16 took off from Skyros.)

When the Turkish fighters realized that the Greek planes had placed a trapped signal on them they immediately split into formations of four and two. At 11:27 the four fighter jets flew to 25,000 feet and the other two planes flew at 12,000 feet (or just a bit before the Greek airplanes approached them carrying air-to-air short range missiles). It was a classic move by Turkey to provide assistance to both its fighters from the Greek jets.

At 11:30 and after being pursued by Greek fighter jets, the Turkish planes then left Greek airspace flying over south of the island of Samos after being detected by Greek F-16 fighter jets.

Monday's incident is just one of many violations from Turkish jets over the past few days. It has become a daily habit to read about Turkish violations and continuous dogfights over the Aegean.

For instance, last Thursday and Friday a whopping 103 violations were recorded but luckily each incident was quickly intercepted by Greek fighter planes. Quite interestingly, last week's incidences were taken to heart from Ankara to the point that the Turkish General Staff issued a statement speaking of "harassment" on the part of Greece (against its planes) in what it termed "international air ... space", on account of an entrapment radar. Ankara went as far as to complain that Greek fighters harassed Turkish F- 16 five times (for 13 minutes and 50 seconds), with an entrapment radar, and said that all they were doing was merely conducting a training flight in international airspace. They did, however, admit that the Turkish F-16s had also locked the Greek fighters.

Source: Defencenet

PROVOCATION - Turkey issues NOTAM in Aegean - Athens to raise issue with NATO

UPDATE

The Greek government delivered demarches to the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), condemning Turkey’s plans, following Ankara's release of the initial NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) on February 27, (for the reservation of a large portion of airspace over the central Aegean Sea in order to hold an unprecedented a 10-month military drill). Almost immediately Ankara issued a new NOTAM (No. 0900/15) revising the original notice (No 0889/15, issued on February 27) by excluding the island of Limnos from the area reserved for military use.

The initial notice, which constitutes a violation of international law and Greek sovereign rights,, provocatively designated a large section of the Aegean Sea – from the central Aegean island of Skyros northeast to Limnos – as an area where the Turkish armed forces could conduct exercises until the end of the year.

Original Story

Greece is protesting Turkey's move to reserve a large chunk of airspace over the Aegean Sea for military maneuvers until the end of the year, a Greek foreign ministry spokesman said at the weekend. Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras was quoted as saying that Ankara has unilaterally issued a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, reserving an extensive airspace over the Aegean Sea from March 2 to December 31, 2015, for military use.

The Greek government notes that the move intrudes into Greek airspace, interferes with traffic to two regional airports and affects two international traffic routes.

In the meantime, Greece's civil aviation authority issued a navigational warning stating the Turkish NOTAM is null and void.

The foreign ministry spokesman said that the Greek government plans to take the matter to NATO, the United Nations, the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO).

This is the second major Turkish provocation in the Aegean in the past two months. On the 31st of December 2014, Turkey issued two NAVTEX broadcasts, reserving large areas in the north and central Aegean for 2015.

The latest Turkish provocation came as a surprise, last Thursday the Greek government offered to begin talks about Trust Building Measures between the two neighboring countries. Turkey agreed to Greek request, making the latest provocation even more confusing.

Reference in Greek - defencenet, balkans.com

Turkish Media Slams Austria For Not Being Tolerant Of Islam Anymore

From an extremely twisted point of view, Turkey's Daily Sabah heavily criticized the Austrian government for altering its current law system to tackle extremism. The new laws aim to come down hard on Muslims who promote extremism and according to the Turkish paper this will set a time bomb in Europe. The law, according to the paper, is also going to limit the number of clergymen who are sent from Turkey to Austria and this is certainly something that Ankara does not like. Take the Greek example: When the previous conservative government decided to pass a law to ban the influx of clergymen from Turkey to Greece (who we all know were promoting the Turkification of the Pomak, Roma and Muslim people in Thraki), the Turkish consulate in Komotini went ballistic.) The paper says that the repercussions of this decision will eventually lead to extremism. This is indeed laughable and a twisted theory, which could also very well be warning, because we all know that Turkey is tolerant (and supportive) of the Islamic State. HellasFrappe applauds the Austrian government for these measures because we feel that it will set a positive pattern that should then be adopted by all member states, especially after the Charlie Hebo attacks in Paris earlier this year.

      "Austria was hailed by Muslims as the leading country in Europe that understands and respects Islam and thus should be an example for others. However, current developments show that shortsighted Austrian politicians are prepared to change all that and set a time bomb in the heart of Europe.
      "Austria officially recognized Islam in 1912 and thus has been living in peace and harmony with Islam for more than a century. However, growing anti-Islamic sentiments and the transformation of xenophobia into Islamophobia has prompted some Austrian politicians in responsible places to follow the trends in Europe and turn against Muslims and Islam.
      "Austria is currently passing a law on Islam that is simply a blow not only to the Muslim community living in Austria, but also a serious threat to Islam in Europe, which will eliminate those Muslims who are calling for moderation and promote extremist Muslim clergymen.
      "For the past 40 years the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey (DİB) has been successfully educating Turks living in Austria on Islam, it sends moderate imams and preachers to lead prayers at the 200 mosques in the country and is helping Muslims to stay on the path of peace and compassion and encourages them to live in harmony with the people of other religions, cultures, colors and languages.What Austrian politicians are doing is setting the clock back a hundred years and destroying what has been built in a century.
     "This is not only a great shame, but is also a prescription to encourage religious extremism, clandestine activities and destroy the culture of coexistence in Austria. This is to destroy everything that other European countries have not done and are thus suffering from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) crisis as their young Muslims raised by extremist imams are leaving these countries to join the religious radicals in Syria and Iraq. Then they go back to their European countries and sow the seeds of ISIS there, hence the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo.
     "The new Austrian law is directed at Islam and thus is fundamentally a discriminatory law. The law orders the moderate DİB's imams out of the country, bans any financial assistance to be received from Turkey for Muslims to learn Islam properly by moderate instructors and bans Turkish Islamic publications for Muslims from Turkey. In short, it amounts to banning DİB from Austria. What enmity, what shortsightedness?
     "The law also treats the Turkish Islamic Union of Austria as an extremist organization even though this organization helps DİB promote unity among Muslims as well as the supreme values of Islam like peace, moderation and compassion.
     "If people cannot learn their religion through legal and safe means they will then opt to learn it in a clandestine manner, which will throw them into the hands of religious extremists.
     "Austrian politicians and people in responsible places seem to miss the fact that the Catholic Church does exactly the same and may be more of what DİB is doing in Austria. The Vatican rightfully intervenes on issues regarding Catholics in Austria, it has a major say in how the Catholic Church is run and provides assistance whenever necessary. The fact that this new law targets Muslims directly and, that such measures are not even discussed concerning members of other religions, shows that the architects of this law do not mean well.
     "The Austrian government has said it wants Islam with an Austrian character. This is impossible. Islam has a universal character and attempts to create one's own brand of Islam will not work.
     "What is sad is that many European countries, and especially Germany, which houses a large Turkish Muslim minority is watching the Austrian example closely to introduce similar laws. The fuse that has been set off in Austria could well blow up in all of Europe. That is the last thing we need."

More at: Sabah

Turkey Rejects Tsipras Proposal To Recommence Cyprus Talks

The proposal made by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to recommence talks on the Cypriot dispute was apparently rejected by the government of Ankara, said that Turkish daily Hurriyet in one report on Tuesday.

Sources told the paper that the Turkish government is not willing to withdraw the Barbaros research vessel from the Cypriot EEZ and that Ankara is not planning on changing its stance on the issue.

Turkey, according to the author of the article, is standing by three positions: That a UN solution is promoted; that the natural sources belong to the united Cyprus and that a committee be formed to manage any income derived from natural resources.

Greece and Cyprus consider these positions unacceptable and stress the need for Turkey to end its provocations and respect the sovereignty of Cyprus by withdrawing its research vessel from Cyprus' EEZ, so that talks can recommence.

Reference: Hurriyet

PROVOCATION - Turkish F-16 near Imia while Kammenos Lays Memorial Wreath

According to a report on defecenent, as well as on ProtoThema, Turkish F-16 fighter planes suddenly appeared in the skies on Friday near the islet of Imia as the newly appointed Minister of Defense, Panos Kammenos, was aboard a helicopter to lay a wreath in memory of three Hellenic Navy aviators that were killed during the 1996 Imia crisis when their chopper crashed in the vicinity. The Turkish planes attempted a type of ambush on the helicopter that was carrying the Greek minister but luckily they were immediately challenged by Greek F-16s which had taken off from the 115th unit in Crete!

Reports claim that the Turkish fighter did not violate Greek airspace, but without a doubt it wanted to intimidate the significance of the moment. Also there was no need of a dogfight since the Greek fighters managed to encircle the Ministers helicopter which was now hovered over the islet of Imia. The same reports add that a few more planes took to the skies from both sides but the Turks decided to withdraw their forces after realizing that the Greek fighters had locked on to their movements and had taken their place around the controversial islet.

The NH-90 helicopter that was transporting the Greek defence minister over Imia maneuvered over the islet’s shore to allow the ministry delegation to lay the wreath.

It should be reminded that in 1996 the events that unfolded at this island almost led to a war between Greece and Turkey (read article below for details.) At the time Turkey began to dispute the sovereignty of these Greek islands and spoke of “grey zones” in the Aegean. This is one of the reasons why the US requested that all armed forces and flags be removed from the area.

The minister was accompanied to Imia by the Chief General Armed Forces Vice Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis.

It should be noted that Kammenos was the first Minister to visit the Islets since 1996. His initiative to honor the three pilots who perished at sea at the time should indeed be applauded. (Bravo tou)

Earlier on Friday he also would lay a wreath at the Imia memorial in down town Athens.

The Golden Dawn party has also organized a demonstration at the Imia Memorial in Athens, while various antifascist groups have arranged to gather in Omonia Square.

Imia: Almost Two Decades Later And We Have Not Forgotten

At the end of January in 1996 on the islet of Imia (Ίμια), which is a set of two small uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, at the Greek chain of islands known as the Dodecanese, a war nearly broke out between Greece and Turkey. That night, Greek special forces landed on the east islet without being spotted by the nearby Turkish ships. 

On January 31, at 01:40 Turkish special forces landed on the west islet escalating the tensions, and a Greek helicopter took off at 05:30 am from the Greek frigate "Navarino" for reconnaissance. During the mission the helicopter crashed over the islets (some speculating due to Turkish fire) and three Greek officers, namely Commander Christodoulos Karathanasis. Commander Panagiotis Vlahakis and flagship Hector Gialopso died. (These are the three heroic men who died in defence of the blue and white and who the Greek Minister of Defence wanted to commemorate on Friday).

IMAGE - The photo above shows the bullets that were fired on the helicopter from the Turkish side. It is one of the few photos that have not been able to erase the responsibilities of those who rushed to claim that the helicopter fell because the pilot, Karathanasis suffered heart problems.

The Greek Parliament is quickly briefed on the incident, and the acting Prime Minister at the time, Costas Simitis, calls on his cabinet and chairs an extraordinary meeting. Following this, Simitis holds a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, via the mediation of Americans in the framework of avoiding war. At 6:10 am the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, namely, Arsenis and Theodore Pangalos, respectively, announce that an agreement was reached between Athens and Ankara following the diplomatic intervention of US President Bill Clinton and his mediator Richard Holbrooke.  

(The same man who years later was sending cables from Athens to the US about Costas Karamanlis, and the same man who a couple of years ago -and while George Papandreou was in power- accompanied Hillary Clinton to Athens to discuss Greece's natural energy reserves. He is a man who has always lobbied in favor of sharing the Aegean sea (and all its wealth) with Turkey... If you need more information, simply type in his name in our search box and you will be astonished with what will pop up.)

Later on in the day and following a "thank you" to the Americans by Simitis in the Greek parliament (which infuriated MPs from the Right to the Left), the Turkish threat began to die down. That is of course what Simitis' PASOK party believed at the time..., but as we can all see the Greek people never forgot.

Almost two decades later... we have still not forgotten, and we never will. How can a nation forget that its own government sent three innocent souls to be slaughtered at the hands of ruthless men? This tragedy will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, nor will it EVER BE FORGIVEN.

Background to the tragedy

On December 25, 1995 the Turkish cargo vessel "Figen Akat" ran aground on one of the Imia rocky islets. Although the accident occurred within Greek territorial waters the captain of the "Figen Akat" refused assistance from the competent Greek authorities claiming that he was within Turkish territorial waters. Despite assurances to the contrary, the captain sought assistance from the Turkish authorities. Finally, in agreement with the Turkish company that owned the vessel, the "Figen Akat" was towed to the Turkish port of Gulluk by a Greek tug boat.

On December 29, 1995, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed to the Greek Embassy in Ankara a Note Verbal, asserting, for the first time in more than half a century, that Imia constitutes part of the Turkish territory, registered in the land registry of the Turkish province of Mugla. Greece reacted and on January 10, 1996 it addressed a Note Verbal to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By that Note Greece rejected the Turkish claims and underlined that Imia is Greek territory by virtue of cession from Italy, to which it belonged in accordance with the 1932 Italo-Turkish Agreement and the subsequent Proces Verbal.

While legal and diplomatic staffs in both Athens and Ankara started to dig the archives and to develop more elaborate arguments, the incident escalated to a crisis. On January 25, 1996, the Mayor of Kalymnos together with three other Greek citizens raised a Greek flag on the larger of the Imia islets. On January 27, 1996, Turkish journalists from the Turkish daily Hurriyet landed on this same islet, took down the Greek flag that was posted there and raised the Turkish flag. Although the Turkish Government did not officially endorse the action of the Turkish journalists, the Turkish Prime Minister at that time, Ms Tansu Ciller, insisted a few days later: "We can't let a foreign flag fly on Turkish soil. The flag will come down."

On January 28, 1996, a Greek navy detachment replaced the Greek flag. At the same time a major naval build up was developing around the Imia islets and at various times up to 20 vessels were reported in the area. On January 30, 1996, Turkey sent several ships to the region, prompting Greece to send an equal number. A Turkish frigate violated Greek territorial waters targeting a Greek gunboat that was patrolling the area and a Turkish helicopter flew over the Imia islets. The same day the entire Greek fleet left its naval base near Pireus and sailed to the Aegean. The crisis reached its peak in the early morning hours of January 31, 1996 when the Turkish army landed some men on the smaller of the Imia islets. (hri). 

After the Imia incident, and PASOK's Secret Diplomacy Exposed

Following Imia, as revealed in the videos, the Greek government sent a letter to US officials telling them that they would command that all Greek military forces leave from the Dodecanese islands that run along the Turkish coast in the framework of mending Greek-Turkish relations. Luckily for our country, the Greek military presence in the area remained.

No harm in that right? 

Wrong.

In a series of classified documents that were presented by reporter Costas Chardavelas (Video Below) -based on talks between former US President Bill Clinton, the then head of the CIA, the Greek and Turkish governments- and which were declassified a couple of years ago by the US, show that top secret meetings were held by Costas Simitis, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodore Pangalos, the then Minister of Defence Gerasimos Arsenis, the then head of the Armed Forces Mr. Lyberis, etc, with American and Turkish officials.

In one of those documents, it was more or less understood that Theodore Pangalos had agreed and noted (in a document) that it was "illegal" for Greek troops to be stationed in the area known as the Dodecanese islands. We repeat... In an effort to please the West in their outrageous demands, a GREEK MINISTER SAID THAT IT WAS ILLEGAL TO HAVE GREEK TROOPS STATIONED ON A GREEK ISLAND. (The reporter Costas Chardavelas said that this was one condition that was demanded by the American side. Watch full video below for all the details.)

In some nations people would be hung with such statements, but under the PASOK regime and its green corrupt blanket, the story did not even make headlines in the news.

In simple words, the division of the Aegean -or the so-called grey zones- obviously began on the night that the Imia affair unfolded, under the Simitis government.

(And we all know who continued the dirty work thereafter. Correct... George Papandreou)

The media in Greece may have remained silent on the issue of Imia. Only a few daring reporters have actually touched the subject. Some believe that this was done in an effort to manipulate us into thinking that it was a one time incident, or even a misunderstanding, but as we said earlier, almost two decades have passed and the issue has still not been forgotten by the masses.

In fact, now that our leaders have finally admitted that there is oil and natural gas in these areas, one thing is for certain, Imia (and Kastelorizo) will dominate the news again!

This of course will never bring back those three young boys who rushed to the call of duty on that frightful night. These young boys will always be remembered. Their sacrifice is not only hailed by their families... but by all Hellenes. We can never repay them for this act of selflessness. The only thing that we can do, however, (or rather are obligated as a people and compelled to do) is honor them every year, remember their sacrifice and bravery and tell their story.

Signed

Marina Spanos 

References:

• http://strangehellas.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_24.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmium
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imia
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHBi35oaimw
• http://www.antirrisies.gr/node/361

PROVOCATION: Greek fishing boats bullied by Turkish Submarine Near Imia

The Turkish paper Hurriyet said in a report that two Greek fishing boats approaching the islets of Imia on January 22 decided to retreat and return to the island of Kalymnos after the Turkish submarine “Tayfun” (Typhoon) suddenly surfaced in front of them.

The paper basically claimed that the Greek fishing boats were attempting to illegally fish in Turkish territorial waters. This is obviously an absurd statement because the territorial waters in and around Imia are GREEK.

It should be reminded that the Imia islets are a pair of two small, uninhabited rocky islands in the Aegean Sea between the Greek Dodecanese islands and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey. Greece and Turkey almost went to war over these islets in 1996 (or just a short while after PASOK took power under Costas Simitis).

Turkey's refusal to recognize Imia as a set of Greek islets is part of the larger Aegean dispute, which also comprises disputes over the continental shelf, the territorial waters, the air space, the Flight Information Regions (FIR) and the demilitarization of the Aegean islands.

In the aftermath of the 1996 crisis, the dispute has widened, as Turkey has begun to lay parallel claims to a larger number of other islets in the Aegean. All the islands, most of which are inhabited, are regarded as indisputably Greek by Greece but regarded as grey zones of undetermined sovereignty by Turkey.

The European Parliament and the European Commission has continually supported Greece on the issue of Imia, and has warned Turkey on more than one occasion to refrain from using any sort of military operations against Greek sovereignty.

References: Hurriyet, Wikipedia, HellsaFrappe archives

Ocena: A Greek Speaking Village in Turkey!

The following article by Vahit Tursun first appeared in the center-left Turkish newspaper Radikal on Sunday February 25 2007. The author, Vahit Tursun, is a grecophone from Ofi, Trebizond.

Ocena is a village near Turkey’s Black Sea coast, known to Greeks as the Pontus, in the mountains behind the town of Trebizond. It is in an idyllic setting of pine and fir trees near the mountain peaks, among valleys and crystal-clear springs.

The village’s original inhabitants were probably fugitives from Ottoman oppression who fled to the shelter of the wooded peaks. It is not known when they built the first houses that became a settlement. It seems that as soon as they built them, the Ottomans discovered them and demolished them.

According to Ottoman archives (the tax archive, or tahrir defterleri, of 1583) the community consisted of just five families. That was the last year the mountains were free. From then on they were included in the Ottoman Empire’s tax system.

Over the next few years more people moved to the village and the days of isolation were over. By 1613, the number of families had grown to 54, four of them declaring themselves Muslims.

According to G. Kandilaptis in his book “Ta Fitiana,” all the inhabitants of the Ofi area, to which Ocena belonged, converted to Islam by order of the region’s bishop. No one knows if they were asked to gather in one place or if someone went around announcing the decision to householders.

Everyone who reached Ocena from various other areas brought their own idiom with them, enriching the local dialect and resulting in a great variety of expressions in a village that did not have much contact with the coastal towns. Its inhabitants had links with the entire Pontus region, of which Ocena could be called a microcosm, an example of the East.

People in the village were not conscious of these differences; they did not consider themselves outsiders. Everyone was from somewhere else. Most importantly, they all spoke the same language, “Romeika,” or Pontic Greek.

Today the village is losing its inhabitants. Only a quarter of the population remains. Particularly in Kato Ocena, lights are turned on in only 200 of the 630 homes. Even these last few inhabitants are ready to leave the small village that is the last remnant of a civilization that is thousands of years old, taking with it everything that is different, every trace of its ancient cultural relics.

Every angry fugitive, every desperate emigrant who leaves his homeland means one more nail in the coffin of that civilization, leaving behind ignorance and inhumanity. Even the death of a single person weakens an ancient language, as that person takes with them all the words in his or her memory that are now rarely spoken because of the relentless onslaught of capitalism, the media, indifference, the worship of all things foreign, and of betrayal.

Ocena is dying a slow death, and with it an age-old idiom of the Greek language, in full sight of a world that believes itself to be civilized. In the large towns, no one can speak their native tongue, much as they love hearing it.

Greek-speaking Muslims in Turkey

One of the most interesting phenomena in modern Turkey is the existence of Greek-speaking Muslims.

The traditional Greek-Turkish conflict, Turkey’s authoritarian administration, the Kurdish uprising and the survival of stereotypes surrounding the formation of newer nations in the region have made studying this particular ethnic group difficult.

The way Greek-speaking groups passed from Christianity to Islam during Ottoman rule is unknown to modern Greek scholars.

Today there are four main grecophone groups in Turkey: the Cretans, Pontics, Macedonians and Cypriots. Each of them is of extreme historic interest. The way these groups express themselves is of great importance as it reveals an unknown aspect of modern Turkish society that is becoming more and more important.

The public appearance of these groups is not only of interest to Turkish society, which is slowly becoming aware of its multicultural nature, but also to Greek society. These groups illuminate how modern nation-states in the region were formed and the way groups caught in the middle – created by history – were forced to be incorporated into the ideological foundation and the religious doctrine of the particular state they were living in.

PROVOCATION - Greek-Turkish Dogfight Over Aegean

A challenging dogfight accompanied by a dozen or so of violations over the Aegean were performed today by the Turkish Air Force. Specifically six Turkish F-16, two of which were fully loaded, illegally entered Greek air space and challenged the Hellenic Air Force by attempting to cause a virtual showdown (but at the same time also check their readiness).

The dogfight occurred North-West of Lesvos. According to the military news site defencenet, two Greek Mirage 2000-5 that had taken off from the island of Skyros came face to face with two fully armed Turkish F-16s that had taken off from Bali Kesir.

The dogfight began at 20,000 feet and then reached 10,000 feet, lasting only five minutes but our skillful pilots did us proud and the pushed back the Turkish planes towards the Turkish coast, or to the limits of Greece's FIR.

Senior officers of the Hellenic Air Force who monitored the dogfight said that the men who were flying the Mirage 2000-5s from the 331st Squadron had "an easy day today."

Reference in Greek - defencenet

Turkish gov't arrests media chiefs in latest assault on free speech

Ekrem Dumannli, the chief editor of Zaman, Turkey’s biggest selling newspaper, cried "we are not scared" after he and other journalists were detained by police over terrorism allegations. The following article is an analysis of the recent arrests of many media agents in Turkey from the Erdogan government who it claims work on behalf of his rival Gulen. The article is from James Smart at the PressProject. To get a better understanding of the rift between Gulen and Erdogan HellasFrappe suggests that you also read the background to this story by clicking HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

By James Smart (Press-Project) - It must have been quite a memorable Sunday afternoon for the locals. Four Turkish police officers briskly walked through the security gates at the offices of Zaman - Turkey's biggest selling newspaper, situated in the working-class suburb of Şirinevler, with a helicopter flying overhead and water cannon vehicles behind.

Surrounding them were 3-4000 protesters - some loyal Zaman readers, others there to defend the free press, who themselves had been tipped off and were also in present in large numbers.

     "Free media cannot be silenced" the crowd chanted as the police walked through the door, not stopping until shortly later when they came back out escorting the newspaper's Chief Editor Ekrem Dumanlı, having failed to breach the crowd at 7.15 that morning. Let those who have committed a crime be scared," Mr Dumanli said as he was ushered away with the police. 'we are not scared'.
     “The detentions have been ordered in order to take their testimonies on charges of founding and directing an armed terror organization, being a member of this organization, and engaging in forgery and slander,” said a statement released by the Istanbul Chief Prosecuters office later that day.

But the protesters believe this is merely another purge on the ever-shrinking media that is prepared to criticise the government.

Dumanli wasn't the only target. Around thirty-one people were detained, mostly other media chiefs, a TV scriptwriter, a TV show director, and a handful of former police chiefs who are suspected if having links to Hizmet, an organisation in confrontation with the AKP government.

Briefly, Hizmet is a popular and somewhat secretive movement founded by Fetullah Gulen, an elderly preacher in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Gulen preaches a brand of Islam that many Turks find agreeable, emphasising use of modern technology, moderation, interfaith dialogue, and promoting Turkishness.

The foundation operates schools and universities in over 140 countries and has other investments in health clinics, finance and media - including publications such as Zaman.

For ten years, Gulen's movement colluded with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP government, proving particularly useful on the campaign trail. Gulen and Erdogan shared the same enemies and it seems that Gulenists in the police and judiciary may have assisted the AKP government by finding ways of putting political foes behind bars.

While the current government used to be happy enough to see their political enemies framed, they are now charging Gulenists in the police and judiciary with fabricating evidence. To understand the reason for this reversal, we need to explore the fading relationship between Gulen and Erdoğan.

From mid-2010, relations deteriorated between the Hizmet movement and the AKP to the extent that the AKP closed down part of the Hizmet operation in Turkey, and continues to work on this.

On their part, Gulenists were able to use their positions in the police and intelligence services to uncover and publicise a series of recordings that showed Erdoğan, his son, and his cabinet knee-deep in corruption. Four ministers were forced to resign, but the government emerged somewhat discredited but largely unscathed. Since then, Gulen has been accused of running a parallel state.

     "I want my dear nation to know that we are not just faced with a simple network, but one which is a pawn of national and international evil forces," said Erdoğan on Friday.
     "We have gone into their lairs, and we will go into them again.”
     “Whoever is beside them and behind them, we will bring down this network and bring it to account".

So, the tables have turned, and Gulenists are now the terrorists.

Is this a simple case then of a feud spiralling out of control?

Ozgur Kuçuk is a journalist for Zaman newspapers. "make no mistake" he says. "these arrests are nothing to do with animosity between Gulen and Erdogan per se. Erdoğan goes after anybody who criticises him publically. He goes after journalists who criticise him, and has them sent to jail".

With an estimated forty journalists currently languishing behind bars, Turkey is the world's biggest jailer of journalists. According to Reporters without Borders, Turkey lies 154th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. To avoid jail, most media outlets self-censor, disciplining and firing media workers who are critical of the government.

To avoid these pitfalls, some Turks post anonymously using blogs and fake twitter accounts. Turkey's most celebrated media outlaw is probably 'Fuat Avni', who claims to have close connections to Erdogan's inner circle, and regularly tweets warnings about operations against the public. This account tipped off the public about this Sunday's arrests, with a list of all those due to be arrested, and even the police officers responsible with each arrest, which were originally due to take place with an element of surprise on Friday.

Fuat initially tweeted that around 140 journalists were to be detained, with 400 citizens to be arrested in total. By Sunday, this had been revised. "Operations against mainstream and liberal journalists will not take place - for now".

The timing of these arrests are interesting. A new law was put in place only on Friday making it easier to arrest and detain citizens. And it is almost exactly a year to the day when police - presumably Gulenists - went after Erdoğan and his cabinet with audio evidence of corruption. Then, as now, reaction was fierce and relentless, with prosecutors, police and journalists moved or fired by the thousands.

Furthermore, last December the government had been easily able to placate much of the public by claiming they had been victim of a 'montage' - claiming that the recordings had been faked, as part of a campaign of dirty tricks. And this government is no stranger to dirty tricks.

During the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013, undercover police acting as agent provocateurs quite clearly threw a series of molotov cocktails at police water cannons, which in turn fired unusually inaccurate water cannon back near the provocateurs.

It was only because the campaign was conducted in such an amateurish manner that it was clearly not the actions of real protesters but of a police force needing an excuse to continue their heavy-handed campaign. Özgur Kuçuk thinks that further stunts may continue.

     "I predict" continues Kuçuk, "undercover intelligence officers will try to gain access to journalists, to pose as Gulenists and elicit responses that will act as evidence against them in court".

Ostensible, the Hizmet movement is being accused of fabricating evidence to put their rivals in jail. However, Erdoğan's attitude towards the media over the past few years leads many to suspect that this is another excuse to keep a critical media ever more silent.

     "Once again, President Erdoğan has shown he will embrace extreme measures to silence dissident voices. He believes in a compliant press, not a free press," said CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) spokesperson Simon Rowe on Sunday.

Criticism of the government's position continues to come under fire from all corners. The lira slumped today as nervous investors pulled out their money.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, a senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch, echoes Rowe's concerns.“The detention of journalists and editors in the context of this latest wider operation of arrests looks like another attempt to crack down on critical media,” she said.

The EU also chimed in: "The police raids and arrests of a number of journalists and media representatives in Turkey today are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement.

Anybody who observes Erdoğan though, knows he can always be relied on to fight fire with fire.

      "The EU should mind its own business and keep its own opinions to itself," he declared. 

Turkey's President cares little for what outsiders have to say, at least publically. He may occasionally back down, but very quietly. Openly, he battles hard and nonstop. His supporters enjoy this streetfighter image, and tend to believe his various accusations of foreign plots. The opposition remain weak, largely because there isn't much historical evidence that they would behave any better if they were in power. Meanwhile the economy is weakening but on a visible level the country continues to modernise on many levels. Erdoğan still seems invincible.

He continues "We gave a promise to Ekrem (Dumanlı) - taking away editors will change nothing. We will print this paper even better. You can detain as many people as you want. Nothing will change here".

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page: Safety Net for European Journalists. A Transnational Support Network for Media Freedom in Italy and South-east Europe

PROVOCATION - Turkish Coastguard Harasses Greek Fishermen off of Imia

The Turkish Hurriyet Daily News said on Monday that the Turkish Coastguard prevented Greek fishermen from casting their nets inside what they called "Turkish territorial waters" in the eastern Aegean on Sunday. According to the obviously provocative report, Greek fishermen were preparing to cast their nets off of the Imia islets, facing mainland Turkey, when a Turkish coastguard boat intervened by approaching and forced them away.

The fishing boats later tried to cast their nets again in front of the island, but were again prevented by the Turkish coastguard. The fishermen later retreated back to what the paper describes as "Greek territorial waters".

The Imia islets are a pair of two small uninhabited rocks in the Aegean Sea, situated between the Greek Dodecanese island chain and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey. Greece and Turkey almost went to war over the islets in 1996. In fact, the Imia dispute is part of the larger Aegean dispute, which also comprises disputes over the continental shelf, the territorial waters, the air space, the Flight Information Regions (FIR) and the demilitarization of the Aegean islands.

Here is the report from Hurriyet - http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-coastguard-halts-greek-fishermen-in-turkish-territorial-waters-.aspx?pageID=238&nid=75333

Sources: Hurriyet Daily News, enikos, Wikipedia

Davutoglu In Athens To Discuss Cyprus Issue (& Hydrocarbons)

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu would arrive in Athens on Friday in order to participate in the Third Supreme Council of Cooperation with Greece. Sounds innocent enough, but a reports about the Turkish delegation's trip to Thrace had sparked a wide range of criticism over the past few days so to avoid any diplomatic problems, it was announced that Davutoglu is going to meet up with Muslim clerics and MPs from Thrace (in Athens perhaps).

(Oxi Giannis, Giannakis)

His visit comes at a time when there are increased tensions over energy deposits in the Mediterranean and as a result there are quite a few people who are opposed to his visit. To limit all possible complications, circulation will be limited in downtown Athens on Friday (and protests and marches have been prohibited).

Prior to the meetings, Davutoglu is set to meet with President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Press reports in Greece claim that Foreign Affairs Ministers Evangelos Venizelos and Melvut Cavusoglu are also going to attend these meetings as well.

The same sources speculate that the topic of discussion will center around the Cypriot dispute, but the recent developments in the Cyprus' EEZ, (where Ankara insists on carrying out hydrocarbon surveys), do not really make for the perfect setting, nor are they grounds to make analysts believe that something positive will come out of these talks.

It should be reminded that ahead of the talks Cavusoglu once again made it clear that Turkey is not going to withdraw the Barbaros survey vessel in Cyprus EEX so as to facilitate the resumption of talks as long as the government in Nicosia continues its search for oil and gas without the involvement of Turkish Cypriots.

     "Whenever the unilateral drilling activities will stop we will withdraw the Barbaros," he told the Kathimerini newspaper.

The talks are part of confidence-building measures launched in 2010 to improve relations between the Aegean neighbors. So far, some 50 accords on immigration, disaster response, tourism, health, transport, agriculture, immigration, culture and sport have been signed (but who knows if they have been respected). It is important to note that one of these accords is apparently going to be "re-evaluated" during the visit.

SHOCK - 4 Centuries Of Ottoman Slavery "National Heritage" To Greece, Says Venizelos!

There have been many moments here at HellasFrappe when I personally paused and shook my head in disbelief and immediately wanted to state my opinion on the given issue. This next story is one of those moments.

By Marina Spanos
HellasFrappe Editor

The Ottoman Empire enriched Greece's "national heritage" according to Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos. A report on the military news site defencenet, claims that the (provocative, pitiful and ludicrous) statement by Venizelos was made to the journalist Asligul Atasagun for Turkey's TV- Cine5 channel.

Was it Venizelos' declaration of allegiance to the "Sublime Porte" of "Sultan" R.T.Erdogan? It could have well been.  Does this also mean that we can expect a deeper Turkification of Greek life with more Turkish soap operas, or even mosques across Athens, or in other areas of the country such as Thessaloniki, Eastern Macedonia, Thrace and the islands of Rhodes, or Kos? Noone knows, but at a time when there is so much increased tension in the Eastern Mediterranean -most of which is being generated by Turkey- one has to really wonder exactly what the Greek Minister was shooting at when he made these unprecedented, uncalled for, and anti-Hellenic statements.

My commentary would have ended there, but I was bothered by his statements to burden Greek taxpayers with the construction of a grand Mosque.

According to the article, he told the Turkish channel that Greek taxpayers' money will be used to construct a mosque in Athens.

     "Yes, clearly a mosque is a public project, donated by the State to the Muslim community in Athens, because we are talking about a public entity, not a private initiative. The infrastructure will serve the religious needs of the Muslim community in Athens and this is something that is obvious and necessary for every European, modern society without prejudice," said Venizelos.

Anyone who reads HellasFrappe knows very well that we respect all religions and religious beliefs, but the issue of constructing a mosque, or any such religious center will not be supported by us especially when we know that it has been requested by Ankara.

The reason (s)? It (they) is (are) quite simple really. Has Turkey ever funded the construction of a Greek church in Constantinople, or elsewhere on its territory? Quite the contrary, in many areas Greek churches were forcibly transformed into Mosques or they were even used as bathrooms! Even Greek Christian burial sites have not been respected in Turkey, and it was not long ago when our blog featured a fashion layout at one such Christian cemetery with young Turkish fashion models posing over Christian headstones.

This is why Venizelos' statements angered me. Why do we continue to close our eyes in the name of diplomacy to a country that harbors barbarians that eat body parts of Christians on live camera, that supports the trafficking of human beings, that commits GENOCIDES, that invaded Cyprus, that forcibly Turkifies citizens in our own country and that is provoking the men and women in our defence forces everyday with all its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean?

To please and impress who? NATO? The EU?

Who?

I cannot understand why our society tolerates weak men such as Venizelos who obviously bend over backwards to the Sultan almost 200 years after real men such as Kolokotronis fought for our Independence. Doesn't he realize that our ancestors are rolling in their graves with his statements?

The Ottoman Empire was not beneficial to Greeks, and I personally challenge anyone who thinks otherwise. In fact I believe it set the Greek people back hundreds of years. Our nation was once glorified. We gave birth to democracy, the sciences, the arts, drama, the Olympics, etc.. And as we all know democracy is far from Sharia Law and the "dark years of bondage".

Diplomats can turn a blind eye to the truth, sugar-coat everything and throw dust in our eyes in the name of strengthening relations (or basically following the "politically correct" demands of the imperialists) but we know the truth because the wounds from all of Turkey's actions against Greece are still too fresh. In fact the only thing we feel towards Turkish foreign policy are feelings of animosity, mistrust and suspicion.

Please, do not misunderstand my point, I have no intent on demonizing the people of Turkey, but I do have the right -as a Greek citizen- to disagree and criticize Turkish foreign policy (which as we all know has never changed for decades now). Besides, Turkey's actions throughout the centuries to our Diaspora in Pontus, in Asia Minor, and in Cyprus, as well as to our brothers in Armenia, the Assyrians, the Syrians, and even the Kurds has done a pretty good job of demonizing itself all on its own.

An impasse? Perhaps but this is obviously based on factual history and never ending trauma. As we all know, history cannot be rewritten, nor can it be ignored. It can only be interpreted to serve the interests of all of those who choose to follow a "politically correct" world.

Shame on you Mr. Venizelos. How terribly humiliating for all Greeks.

(Editor's Note: Warning to the leadership of the New Democracy party. Get Venizelos out of the Greek Foreign Ministry because he is doing more damage to the government than good! Being politically correct is one thing, but bending over backwards to the Sultan is not only disgraceful it is way out of line!)

Here is the full interview without any editing!

Journalist: Recently, President Erdogan during his last visit to northern Cyprus had stated that 'to reopen the Theological School of Halki, Greece should legalize "elected muftis' of the Turkish minority in Greece, and to open the mosque in Athens. " How do you rate the appeal of Erdogan and also will open the mosque in Athens, which is the only European capital which has a mosque?
EY. Venizelos: As you know, in the field of human rights, in the field of minority rights, each state has the constitutional and institutional obligation to apply existing regulations and to respect the rights without reciprocity. This is not reciprocal, but unilateral obligation of Turkey and Greece, and every country to respect international law, human rights and especially the rights of minorities. The Greece is simultaneously an obligation to respect the rights of minorities, and in the context of the famous historical Treaty of Lausanne, under the Greek Constitution, which is a very modern European Constitution and under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights but also in international law as organized legal system with the necessary judicial review.
Especially for muftis in Thrace, as you know, the mufti is a dual organ, not only religious services but primarily judge, public body, because in Greece, and under the Treaty of Lausanne, the mufti is above all responsible for the application of Sharia law, the traditional Islamic law. This is something very important, because in this respect the mufti is part of the legal but mostly of our judicial system. I know some suggestions and ideas for you to distinguish the two powers. We are always ready to discuss on various ideas, but not on the basis of reciprocity, because this is something that is not acceptable to European standard.
This is not an Exchange issue, trading between Greece and Turkey. We unilaterally as an entity of the international community, as a country, as a rule, the obligation to respect the rights of minorities - and our policy is full participation, full integration of the Muslim minority in Thrace in Greek economic, social, political life and the education system, in our professional lives. This is something very important not only for the Muslim minority and the Greek society as a European society with western culture, as a member of the European Union.

Journalist: Mr. Minister, the "Turkish minority" in Western Thrace ..
EY. Venizelos: not a "Turkish minority". In the terminology of the Treaty of Lausanne, this is a religious Muslim minority, this is very important because it is not a national minority.

Journalist: At this point, I would like to ask the following: there are many reactions by Greek citizens of Turkish origin, belonging to the Muslim minority. The government took a step and would mark the minority "Turkish"?
EY. Venizelos:If you talk to collective and legal entities must respect international law. Under international law, in particular under the Treaty of Lausanne, we must talk about religion, Muslim minority in Thrace. If your comment is a comment made at the level of so-called self-determination, self-determination is an individual right, according to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Journalist: And as far as the mosque, Minister ...
EY. Venizelos: For us, not only a mosque and the Muslim Ottoman heritage in Greece is part of our national heritage and as a former Minister of Culture, I can reiterate that the restoration and promotion of the Ottoman and Muslim monuments in Greek territory is a great advantage, not only for our cultural policy and our cultural heritage, but also for our tourism industry.

Journalist: So we could say that in the future there will be a mosque in Athens.
EY. Venizelos: Yes, very clearly. A mosque is a public project, donated by the State to the Muslim community in Athens. Because we are talking about a public entity, not a private initiative. We are talking about a public legal entity and the related infrastructure to serve the religious needs of the Muslim community in Athens. This is something obvious and necessary for every European, modern society without prejudice.

Journalist: Mr. Minister, after Ankara will go to Istanbul where he will meet Bartholomew and the Pope to visit Turkey. As orthodox, what symbolizes for you, for the Orthodox Church, the Pope's visit?
EY. Venizelos: The Pope's visit is an excellent opportunity for the international community to the past to understand the particular institutional and doctrinal role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the other pillar of Christianity, Eastern Christianity, the first Church of the East Christianity. And in this regard, new meetings between the two bishops, Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Constantinople, New Rome, always offer an excellent opportunity not only to relaunch and renew the theological dialogue, but also for a wide public debate on the status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
For Turkey, the existence of the Patriarchate in your country is a great advantage, not only for tourist purposes but also because the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the oldest institution in the region, a benchmark for the global community, for the Christian community around the world. And in this respect the status and legal personality - the international and domestic legal personality - the Ecumenical Patriarchate can be also an excellent argument for the European perspective of Turkey.

Reference in Greek - defencenet