I dwelled a lot on whether I should write the following piece in Greek or English. Eventually I decided that it is in fact critical for it to be written in English, even if it is just read by one or two individuals and even if it is unpleasant to some readers. I have people I like or care about in this site, for whom some of the things I will say next will surely be unpleasant, but I hope even they will understand the situation I am going to describe.
I have talked a few times about the absymal chaos in which Greece has been spiralling for many years. I understand that most of the foreign people who fleetingly read such statements are not sure what this is all about. Maybe it's just some complaints about the financial crisis, maybe some dissatisfaction with the politicians like in most countries, maybe some Greek version of a liberals versus republicans drama. The reason people do not understand what is going on with Greece, or if there's anything going on with it to begin with, is exactly because the government presents a facade of success, stability and progress abroad. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Greece is a member of the EU and NATO and, as such, EU and NATO protect the Greek government and conceal everything that is happening in Greece. Not because the Greek government inspires such a desire for care and protection in these instutions, but because the Greek politicians have become the consciously useful idiots in order to serve the interests of more powerful states and perpetuate their own firm grip to their offices in exchange.
Greece is getting corroded from the inside. We learn about a new massive financial scandal almost every week and at this point there is not even a verbal apology or acknowledgement by the associated politicians. The government has gotten rid of the old judges and hired their own people in the biggest courts of the country. They come forward and admit unapologetically that they prioritise their own voters in jobs. The investigation committees regarding governmental scandals are comprised by members of the government! (As in, someone investigating his own self.) Young people are taking their lives one after the other. Half a million of healthy farm animals have been culled to hide more economical misrepresentations in the EU, causing devastation in the agriculture. The government actively promotes the polarisation between the Greek people, pretending that the big problem of the country is the "communists". I don't even know how many true communists exist in the country anymore however the government paints them as the villains who want to harm the country and destabilize the mighty governing body.
By hiring and rewarding with money its own voters, the government has corrupted the entire Greek nation, creating two sides, the normal ones who see what is happening and are in despair and the ones who have benefited hugely by the government and as such oppose fiercely to any opposing opinion and attempt at resistance or protest. The government has created groups of digital supporters, the biggest one being the "Group of Truth", which are comprised by fanatic voters who are paid to post on social media positive propaganda in favour of the governing party. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of such accounts in social media, calling our PM "the best leader to ever govern us" and throwing threats that "this political party will be governing till the sun dies".
Furthermore, it's been revealed that the PM has been spying the private phones of members of his and other political parties with the assistance of Israeli spyware companies. While the Greek government has been servile to many European countries, privatizing and selling to foreign countries the public transport, the ports, the airports, the electricity, the natural gas and all renewable resources (as well as taken half the protected environmental areas of the country so that the PM's cousin can make wind parks), there's none the Greek government has been more servile to than USA and Israel. The Greek government has been passionately whitewashing all of Trump's and Netanyahu's wrongdoings and has been relentlessly ditching older and more beneficial financial and trade alliances with other countries, in order to form new ones with Israel and the USA, which are way more disadvantageous for the Greek economy. Greece has become effectively and beyond any doubt an Israeli-American protectorate.
The ridiculous strategy those Greek politicians are following is founded on the laughable faith that should ever Turkey invade Greece (as Turkey threatens to do for basically all of its existence and certainly throughout the last three-four decades), two guys like Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu will prioritise honouring the alliance with Greece (basically the Greek government being in all fours for the US and Israel) instead of maintaining a good relation with the eight times larger, notoriously megalomanic and extremely imperialistic Turkish Republic, which has been ruled by the two-faced dictator Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for more than 20 years. Yes. That's what the Greek government is legitimately hoping. That a guy like Trump will pick them and defend them against Erdoğan. Like a stupid satellite, Cyprus (a large part of its north being still in illegal Turkish occupation since 1974) is following the same strategies as Greece, resulting in several thousand private properties being bought by Israeli capital, aiming to create gated communities there. Imagine this, a tiny island state that is half occupied by a country like Turkey and half of the free part of it is bought and gatekeeped by the Israeli state as it is now. And nobody cares.
Nobody cares. European countries like Italy, Germany and Spain (which loves to accentuate how much it is in the right side of history but it is apparently with a very selective approach) pursue the strengthening of their army industry alliances with Turkey, buying huge amounts of warfare from Turkey and thus empowering the Turkish military industry, even though they know very well that Turkey threatens primarily their supposed allies and EU members Greece and Cyprus (while also suffocating the Kurds' struggle for independence). Even France, which acts as a steadfast ally of Greece has increased its warfare trade with Turkey.
This is not surprising. There is an ancient saying: "Δρυὸς πεσούσης πᾶς ἀνὴρ ξυλεύεται" (ðriós pesúsis pas anír xilévete), which means "when the oak tree falls, every man cuts from its wood". There is also something more modern, the famous song Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics:
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
And also some more modern Greek folk wisdom, conceived after the innumerous times this has happened in Greek history: "Τα κάστρα πέφτουν εκ των έσω" (ta kástra péftun ek ton éso), meaning "the castles fall from within". I believe this is a well understood axiom all over the world.
Greece is corroded from the inside out. For a significant part of its modern history, especially after the middle of the 20th century, Greek governments have blindly prioritised foreign interest in an exchange for some support in them clawing the office and not letting go. And in these circumstances, when you saw the very branch you are sitting on and everyone knows this, who would care to keep you from falling? I understand this, it does not however erase from the immorality of such trades and alliances other countries pursue at the expense of Greece, a branch about to fall as it may be.
And here's where this has led us; don't be confused! All this text above was the introductory context! Now I am getting to the part where shit is about to hit the fan.
In conversations we have in the country, virtually everyone sees no future or an extremely bleak future ahead of us, a future that cannot even be hypothesized or pictured in our minds. I and many other people I know have said that they have the haunting sensation that Greece counts its last weeks or months, without however being able to tell what exactly would happen to bring this "end".
My assumption has always been war. What else is there to give the final blow to a country? A civil war or a war from an external force. Seeing the lame state Greece has ended up in, I started wondering how on earth Turkey has not attacked us yet, as Turkey has an open casus belli against Greece for several decades and annexing parts of Greece is in general the ultimate wet dream of this country for some reason. But it turns out we might be just about to get it. And the most terrifying thing is that such a war might not even be against the plans of the "great powers".
As the war between Iran and Israel and the USA broke out, a lot of European leaders started warning the European citizens that Europe will soon have to participate in a war, especially against Russia, despite the blatant disinterest of the European people in engaging in a war out of nowhere. There seems to be some machination at the highest political level in the EU, which tries to set the conditions for a future disturbance of peace. Below are a few of the numerous reasons which could suggest that the Greek government not only participates willingly in such efforts (with its role as a muppet), but might also be willing to play the part of the useful idiot and become a central pawn in this chess board.
When Trump randomly invaded Venezuela and kidnapped Maduro, our PM posted in facebook, saying it was not "the time to discuss the legal parameters of Trump's actions because the important thing was that Maduro was removed from the government of Venezuela". This caused an uproar in the Greek population, with the angry emojis by far surpassing any likes, and people would declare him dangerous for the country and implore him to quit. Of course, if you whitewash illegal actions perpetrated one-sidedly against another country and its government, this gives the perfect footing to countries that operate through fait accompli against you to perform the exact same thing at your expense. The PM however did not delete the post. He left it there for everyone to see.
The Minister of National Defense said out of nowhere that Europeans should start getting used to the idea of receiving their sons in coffins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This minister has also completely destroyed the working and living conditions of the military personnel of the country, with record-high numbers of resignations in the army and record-low interest of young people in following a career in the military. (I am not saying I like people working in the army, I am saying we are unfortunately a country that does not have the luxury for the alternative.) Due to epic fiascos I will explain in a minute, the very same minister has been entirely absent from the Hellenic Parliament for the last four months, apparently dreading the questions of the MPs.
This very same minister and the general of the army also said that Greece could perhaps perform a preemptive strike, painting either Turkey or Russia as the potential target. Imagine. Imagine the minister of national defense and the general of the army saying OPENLY for everyone to hear that Greece could strike preemptively a country that is 8 times larger or, alternatively, a country that is 14 times larger (population wise). This is why I am saying that Greece might be intentionally pushed to war. Who in their right mind would say this if they did not have ulterior motives? Of course it was just empty talk but, again, who in their right mind would say this? To an eight times larger country that its entire motto has been "we will come at night" and fanatically so. Did the minister and the general think this was an appropiate way and time to act cool and macho? If so, they are still dangerous due to their stupidity.
Around a month ago a Global Sumud Flotilla boat full of activists for Gaza sent a signal for rescue to the Greek state because it was sailing in international waters that belong within the Greek SRR zone boundaries. You know what happened? The Greek state emphatically ignored the signal of the boat and allowed Israeli ships to get in and basically kidnap the activists, while just sitting back and watching. Needless to say, the spot was west of Crete island, in an area where Israeli ships have zero jurisdiction whatsoever, all the while Turkey constantly contests the Greek territorial waters, the EEZ and SAR zones and even makes claims for the three fourths of Crete, the largest Greek island and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It was not a surprise that the Turkish minister of foreign affairs immediately called his Greek counterpart when those events unfolded, but the Greek media and the minister never informed us about the contents of their conversation.
About a week ago, random fishermen approached a drone loaded with explosives casually floating off Lefkas island. The drone was so loaded, it was capable of causing a major catastrophe. It was soon revealed by the media that the Greek government had. no. idea. how this drone ended up swimming in the Greek seas next to inhabited islands and they had. no. idea. who. the. fuck. sent. it. The minister of the National Defense was laughing like an idiot in a public speech trying to convince the people that it was a minor issue that is beneath us, while the PM, in his desparate attempt to win the trust of the people again, said it was not in Greek territorial waters, which caused another huge uproar because the drone was in fact well within the Greek territorial waters and in fact sailing only a little off the coast of a relatively large and considerably inhabited Greek island! Do you start getting a picture of what kind of people govern us???
But here's the even wilder, even more humiliating stuff. The drone was found to be a Magura drone produced by Ukraine. Ukraine and Greece are supposedly allies. Greece terminated a centuries old friendship with Russia in order to stand by Ukraine's side during the Russian invasion, and that is fair, if you ask me. This Greek government proved however pretty passionate about it, declaring "we're at war with Russia" when even larger and more powerful European countries avoided such bold statements and even Russia responded to the Greek declarations with a political equivalent of "WTF". Ever since, Greece has been included in the Russian list of enemies. In any case, the information that reached media was that Ukraine must have sent that drone in order to target Russian ships passing through the Dardanelles and through the Aegean, the Ionian and the Adriatic seas. The question was how on earth all this happened without the awareness and consent of their supposed ally, Greece, especially since such a plan would place Greek civilians in great and potentially mortal danger. To the government's dismay, more information circulated the media. It turns out that in the context of their alliance, Ukraine and Greece agreed to co-produce naval drones, which would be mostly used by Ukraine against Russia, while Greece would get access to wartime technology. However, the Ukrainian authorities demanded a condition for this agreement; they demanded to be authorised to veto the Greek usage of this technology in case the target of this technology is a pal of them (Turkey), all while their own usage of the drones would be unconditional! In other words, in a project of warfare co-production the partner that is actively at war demands assistance from the other partner against a former ally of theirs, while simultaneously making it clear that should ever the partner be invaded as well, they are going to refuse to provide help in equal measure, if not actively side with the invader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ukraine has been very clear all this time that it prioritises good affairs with Turkey instead of Greece, yet repeatedly asks and demands assistance from Greece. I know this might rub people, friends and people I sincerely care about the wrong way, but try to look at it from the side of the Greek population. Ukraine asked from Greece one-sided assistance and essentially rejected the possibility of help in return in the future. Imagine how abysmally low Greece has fallen on a diplomatic level that a country actively in war, in a losing war as it seems, can make such demands! I want to make clear that of course I am at the side of the Ukrainian people, of course they are at the right side, they are invaded, it's perfectly clear. However, I am afraid they have a criminal government. I don't know what the feelings of Ukrainians themselves are for their government but Zelensky's government - amongst its numerous financial and other scandals, has now also humiliated and offended a country that is supposed to be an ally, a country that bombed serious strategic relations in order to be an ally. As such, Greece should reconsider the way it materialises its support towards the Ukrainian state. So far, the information we have is that the production of the drones has stumbled on this disagreement, however the Greek government still appears very eager to go on with this plan.
However, the Greek uproar about this was such that the Greek government was forced to remonstrate towards the Ukrainian government about the inexplicable presence of the loaded drone next to inhabited Greek islands. The result? Nothing. Nothing so far. The Ukrainian authorities are simply not responding to the Greek government, they are not providing any explanation! Can you wrap your mind around how abysmally void of any diplomatic stature Greece has become, so that a country in war that Greece supports is not even picking up the phone, so to speak? Can you remotely realise where these politicians have led us?
But the Greek government feels safe as long as it has its Israeli friends. Except a few days ago Israel also commandeered Greek ships belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla, kindnapped the activists for Gaza , and they are holding them as hostages in humiliating conditions.
The mistreatment of the activists, as orchestrated by Israel's far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who participated in it personally, has been shocking enough that even Netanyahu distanced himself from it, asking for the repatriation of the activists. The Greek government once again had to remonstrate towards his lover ally, due to the presence of at least 19 Greeks amongst the hostages, but we know how much Israel takes into consideration Greece's concerns. Maybe a little less than Ukraine..............................................
In the meantime, the corrosion inside Greece after so many years of propaganda in favour of Israel is such that a large part of the GREEK population sides with Israel about the mistreatment of fellow Greek people, because "Israel is a proud state", "that's what anarcho-dirts deserve" and "wish we become like this too".
I did not mention a tenth of what is going seriously wrong with Greece but hopefully if you read this far (thank you), you might have started realising that indeed there is something critically alarming about the situation in the country. One may say that it is not wise of me to disclose so many sensitive issues in a post in social media but don't worry, those who should not know these things know them perfectly well.
After all this, it's almost unsurprising that Turkey eventually announced that it's going to legalize the imperialistic Mavi Vatan dogma by passing it into their legislation. The Mavi Vatan is an ahistorical and irredentist rhetoric according to which Turks are native to the Greek islands (!!!) (in case you don't know all Turkic tribes originate from Central Asia and historically Turks have had very limited engagement with the sea, even during Ottoman imperial times the Greek islands enjoyed more freedoms and self-determination than the Greek mainland which Turks were able to control better) and claim half the territorial waters of Greece in the Aegean Sea, three fourths of Crete island and at least 152 more islands. By adding the Mavi Vatan war rhetoric into their legislation, the Turkish state authorizes itself to view any action Greece does in its own islands and territorial waters as an official threat against Turkey's sovereignty, and justify war on the basis of this mad revisionism. This is how Turkey has always acted; by creating one-sidedly grey zones and disputed areas. All the islands, including the ones that are only a handful miles away from the Turkish coastline are exclusively inhabited by Greek nationals. The Aegean Sea has been the very foundation of the Greek culture and history - it is the origin of the Cycladic Civilisation. Of course, Turkey is revising both geography and history. They are renaming the Aegean Sea into "Island Sea" lol. A few years ago they tried to name it "Turkaegean". For real.
Turkish newspapers speculate that the upcoming autumn will be the beginning of hostilities between Turkey and Greece. The Greek government has remained totally silent over the new developments and of course has not made sure to inform the rest of the EU members, some of which happily exchange warfare with the Turkish military industry. At least not so far. Maybe this is not alarming according to the Greek government. Greek fishermen are already bullied and threatened with free shots within Greek territorial waters. Greek-Cypriot financial project for energy connection by submerging a cable near the Greek island of Kasos was also abandoned when Turkey threatened with war. Greece is the only coastal country in the world which has not enacted its legal right to a 12-mile expansion of its territorial waters because Turkey has an open casus belli against it for this reason. Maybe all this is beneath the Greek government after all.
But like I said, this is what Sweet Dreams are made of. Some want to abuse you. But it mostly works when you also want to get abused.
