Whereas in Greece the lack of a strong opposition has led to political ferment and the birth of political parties, in neighboring Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making sure that the opposite happens, removing – by court decision – the leadership of the powerful major opposition party.
Several municipalities across southern Attica were thrown into turmoil on Tuesday by an incident that could very well have been a serious threat to public health.
For years we have been saying almost self-evidently that the Metapolitefsi, the period after the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974, was almost synonymous with the center-left PASOK party.
The need for drastic public expenditure cuts during the economic crisis resulted in injustices, such as only a few jobs operating under a special status remaining formally recognized as being hazardous and unhealthy.
What the Champions League is to European soccer, the Charlemagne Prize is to European politics. Since 1950, the German city of Aachen has awarded the prestigious distinction to individuals and institutions that have made exceptional contributions to European unity and cooperation on the continent.
Watching the excellent documentary by Eleni Varvitsioti and Viktoria Dendrinou on the Greek debt crisis, “To the Millimeter,” there is one character who stayed with me because they may have played a central role in keeping Greece on its feet in 2015.
It seems that even if the fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine were to stop today, the world is already very different from what it was a few years ago.
Information conveyed by authoritative news media, including Turkish state television, has revealed that Ankara is drafting legislation that will formalize its “Blue Homeland” doctrine, or at least come very close to doing so.
It would be most useful if, in the nascent tension between Greece and Turkey, the European Union avoided its usual mistake: trying not to get involved, and then, when it does act, doing so in a way that exacerbates the problem.
If recent developments in Turkey are anything to go by, the government in Ankara appears to have chosen the path of ramping up tensions in its relations with Greece.
