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Category: Greece

  • Operation Sunshine in Cyprus

    Operation Sunshine in Cyprus

    murat yetkin

    Does anyone know what Operation Sunshine is, or was? It is, or was, an MI6 operation in Cyprus back in 1959. The details are revealed in the enlightening research of Stephen Dorril under the title “MI6-Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service.”

    The summary is as follows: Cyprus was drawn into ethnic conflict in the late 1950s. Armed, right-wing Greek bands were carrying out attacks against British rule on the island and against Turkish civilians – something that would be named as an attempt at ethnic cleansing in today’s world. In response, Turkey secretly helped an embryonic resistance among Turkish Cypriots, organizing and arming them.

    The Brits decided to take effective steps. MI6 started to tap some VIP telephones, relying on the cutting-edge technology of the day in order to prevent further killings and provide a basis for a settlement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The names included the Greek leader, Archbishop Marakios III. While eavesdropping on Makarios’ lines in order to obtain some political and military information, they recorded some other stuff by mistake – “Rather unusual homosexual proclivities,” as described by the book.

    That was in 1958 and when Makarios resisted signing an agreement with Turkish Cypriots under the guarantee of Britain, Turkey and Greece in 1959 in Zurich, he had a visitor in his hotel room with some information to share. Makarios changed his mind overnight, came down to the hotel lobby where his Turkish counterpart Fazıl Küçük was waiting and signed the first treaty on Cyprus which lead the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960.

    That was Operation Sunshine. That is a part of the background story about how the Republic of Cyprus with Makarios as the president and Küçük as the deputy president was established.

    That British-made fragile structure began to fall apart a few years later, ultimately leading to theTurkish military intervention which divided Cyprus into two in 1974.

    Being happy with the status quo, Ankara did almost nothing other than support the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, of which only Turkey recognizes.

    Turgut Özal was the first Turkish leader who talked about a “bi-zonal, bi-communal, federal system” in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Turkey silently distanced itself from that formula, which was not adopted by the Greeks anyway.

    Under the Justice and Development Party, or AK Parti, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan adopted a U.N.-backed reunification strategy, which was rejected by the Greek Cypriots in 2004. The European Union’s subsequent admittance of the Republic of Cyprus (officially representing the separated Turks in the north as well), made Erdoğan upset, like many of the Turks.

    Now Erdoğan is going back to Özal’s federal model and is threatening whomever by starting to support two separate states on the island, risking Turkey’s relations with the EU.

    That brings us to the threshold of a series of very interesting events in the coming months in the eastern Mediterranean.

    Hürriyet Daily News

     

  • Baklava Bailout: How Turkey Helped Greece’s Sweet Tooth

    Baklava Bailout: How Turkey Helped Greece’s Sweet Tooth

    By JOE PARKINSON And AYLA ALBAYRAK

    ISTANBUL—Europe’s multibillion-euro bailout of Greece has been making headlines on a daily basis. Less noticed was a Turkish bailout last week of an Athens institution: sweet seller Baklavas Epe.

    Joe Parkinson/The Wall Street Journal Nadir Gullu, with baklava boxes decorated with Greek and Turkish flags.
    Joe Parkinson/The Wall Street Journal Nadir Gullu, with baklava boxes decorated with Greek and Turkish flags.

    Greeks and Turks have bickered for centuries over which nation makes the better baklava, a sticky-sweet dessert of layered pastry devoured in huge quantities across the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. But for the past 10 years, Turkey’s best-known producer, businessman Nadir Gullu, has been supplying Greece’s closely held Baklavas Epe, which operated five stores in Athens. He provided about two tons of baklava and other Turkish sweets per month.

    Old rivalries aside, Athenians lapped them up—until, that is, they ran out of cash.

    Baklavas Epe’s most profitable shop is on Athens’s landmark Syntagma Square. Before the crisis, tourists and locals queued up in droves to buy the pastries. But as the government embarked on a severe austerity program to reduce its debt burden and qualify for international support, demand sank.

    Baklavas Epe closed three of its five stores in Athens as sales dropped. Meanwhile, it ratcheted up close to €160,000 (about $226,000) in debt for deliveries of sweets from across the Aegean Sea, according to the company. Plunging revenue made it impossible for Baklavas Epe to finance baklava purchases from Istanbul.

    “Baklava has become a luxury. Think about it: Three kilos of minced beef costs the same as one kilo of baklava,” said a company spokesman. (A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.)

    In Turkish newspapers, Mr. Gullu, the owner of Karakoy Gulluoglu, a well-known baklava shop near the shores of the Bosporus in Istanbul, said the Greeks should pay their debts within a year and the business relationship was in jeopardy.

    With elevated wage costs and sporadic vandalism amid protests over austerity measures adding to its woes, Baklavas Epe said it needed more time. Besides, it said, Mr. Gullu in public comments had exaggerated the amount of the debt. In short, it didn’t look good for business and friendship in the Greek-Turkish baklava trade.

    [BAKLAVA]

    But after the partners met last week to discuss a possible resolution, they reported a deal that would preserve and even expand their business ties. Under terms of the deal, Karakoy Gulluoglu will continue to supply Baklavas Epe and extend its loan financing for three more years. The firms will also embark on a new joint-venture coffee shop in Athens, which is scheduled to open in September.

    The thinking is that if Athenians can’t afford to buy a kilo of baklava to take home anymore, maybe they can afford a few pieces to have with a coffee, the Baklavas Epe spokesman said.

    Mr. Gullu says his own business, which has expanded dramatically in recent years to sell baklava and Turkish sweets in 85 countries, including the U.S., is in a position to extend the loans. “I told them, ‘it’s OK, keep paying slowly,’ ” Mr. Gullu said in an interview. “We are doing this for our friendship and for Turkish moral pride.”

    The Baklavas Epe spokesman said both companies remained positive about their relationship and about the potential for the Greek economy to bounce back. “I don’t believe that Greece will stay like this because Greeks love life,” he said.

    Mr. Gullu’s decision to extend his partner’s credit line is indicative of an improvement in relations between Greece and Turkey, particularly in the business community, since a pair of earthquakes drew them together in 1999. Turkish-Greek trade increased steadily until it reached around $3.6 billion in 2008, falling back to $3 billion last year amid the global economic slowdown, according to figures from the Turkish statistics agency Turkstat.

    Mr. Gullu says Turks are no strangers to the pains of austerity, having negotiated their most recent International Monetary Fund bailout package in 2002 after a banking crisis the year before roiled the economy. Turkish businesses could use cash flow from their country’s booming economy to invest in Greece if it makes business sense, he added.

    “We’ve suffered economic crises here in Turkey before so we understand the problems Greeks are going through….We will find a solution to this sticky situation,” he said.

    via Baklava Bailout: How Turkey Helped Greece’s Sweet Tooth – WSJ.com.

  • Greece most complex debt crisis for years: IIF chief

    Greece most complex debt crisis for years: IIF chief

    By Alexandra Hudson and Asli Kandemir

    ISTANBUL | Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:20am EDT

    ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Greece is embroiled in the most complex sovereign debt problem for years as there are so many parties involved and no unified European view, the head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said on Tuesday.

    “This is the most complex sovereign debt crisis I have ever been connected with, because there are so many players, no unified European view, and the weaknesses of the Greek economy are extraordinarily serious,” said Charles Dallara, who has been managing director of the IIF bank lobby group for 18 years and was involved in other sovereign crises.

    “The private financial community has to play a part,” Dallara said, but added: “It will be exceptionally difficult to align the political, economic and financial stars.”

    Dallara said radical proposals by France to roll over some Greek debt for 30 years had stimulated debate and some of the proposals were likely to be in the final solution.

    But he said more European cohesion is needed. “At some points European leaders will have to see themselves as European leaders and not as French, or German or Greek.”

    Speaking in Istanbul at an event hosted by Turkey’s Garanti Bank, he said if Greece’s government approves an austerity plan and Europe commits to a further bailout then the International Monetary Fund and others are likely to allow Greece a period of time to sustain its efforts.

    Dallara, a former banker who has also held senior roles in the U.S. Treasury, is playing an informal role in the talks to thrash out a solution.

    It is familiar ground for the IIF, which represents over 400 firms and was created in 1983 in response to the international debt crisis and aims to help stabilize the industry, including managing sovereign risk.

    (Reporting by Alexandra Hudson and Asli Kandemir; Editing by Dan Lalor and David Holmes)

    via Greece most complex debt crisis for years: IIF chief | Reuters.

  • Foreign ministry urges Greek citizens not to participate in Gaza flotilla

    Foreign ministry urges Greek citizens not to participate in Gaza flotilla

    Source: ANA

    The Greek Foreign ministry urged Greek citizens not to participate in the new flotilla for the port of Gaza, as well as the ships and seafaring means of the Greek shipping register.

    Turkish protestors accompany by boats the Mavi Marmara passenger ship during its return ceremony in Istanbul after Israel’s deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza Strip on 31 May, in Istanbul, Turkey on 26 December 2010. Israeli commandos on 31 May 2010 stormed six ships carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists on an aid mission to the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens after encountering unexpected resistance as the forces boarded the vessels.

    The Greek Foreign ministry urged Greek citizens not to participate in the new flotilla for the port of Gaza, as well as the ships and seafaring means of the Greek shipping register.

    A relevant announcement by the Foreign ministry on Wednesday calls for the appeal by the UN secretary general, the declared intention of the Israeli government not to allow the approach of vessels to the coast of Gaza, to be taken into consideration, as well as the direct dangers for human life and security entailed by participation in this undertaking, particularly in light of last year’s events.

    It is also pointed out that “the defining and exercising of the country’s foreign policy is the responsibility of the government, with the criterion of the promotion of the interests of Greece” and “in this crucial conjuncture all must show the corresponding responsibility or fully assume the responsibility for their actions.”

    Moreover, it stresses that “the planned operation does not tackle the essence of the humanitarian problem in Gaza”, adding that Greece and Cyprus have made specific proposals in the past in the direction of handling the humanitarian needs of the inhabitants of Gaza.

    “Greece actively supports the resumption of the peace talks which constitutes the only path for an overall and viable solution of the Palestinian issue,” the announcement concluded. (ANA)

    via Foreign ministry urges Greek citizens not to participate in Gaza flotilla :: EMG :: SEE news.

  • Vana Barba Visits Istanbul Regarding New TV Show

    Vana Barba Visits Istanbul Regarding New TV Show

    VanaVana Barba was in Istanbul for the preparation of a show that she will present. ’The webcast’ talks about the common traits of Greece and Turkey and will be screened simultaneously in both nations. It is produced by Mary Ekmektsioglou and directed by Erdal Murat Aktaş.

    The sexy Greek actress Vana Barba, who gave an interview to the Turkish newspaper Haberturk stated: “I always liked the Turks. Due to historical problems, there hasn’t been a big common understanding between the two populations. Thanks to this show, I believe that Greece and Turkey will come closer”, she said.

    Vana Barba, when asked if she knows any natives closely, stated: “I know Zoulfou Livaneli closely. This pleases me immensely. Every year I go to Alikarnassos (Bodrum) on holiday and there are many Turks I know there. And I also like Erdogan. In my opinion, he does very good business for Turkey”, she replied.

    via Vana Barba Visits Istanbul Regarding New TV Show | Greek Reporter Europe.

  • Greek Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization

    Greek Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization

    ist architectsThe Museum of the City of Athens – Vouros-Eytaxias Foundation inaugurated an exhibition of photos and archive material on “Greek Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization“, on Monday, May 30th 2011. The exhibition is organized by the Zographeion Alumni Association (Istanbul) in collaboration with the ISTANBUL 2010 – European Capital of Culture Agency and is sponsored by Public Benefit Foundation John S. Latsis.

    The main idea of the exhibition is to highlight the sectors in which the Greeks of Istanbul did exercise great influence. One of these was in the architectural movements of the mid-19th till the mid-20th century, where 57 architects (such as P. Fotiades, B. Kouremenos, L. Kaytantzoglou) designed and created over a 100 different buildings, shaping the urban landscape of Istanbul. These architects would introduce new types and styles of buildings, so that they contributed to the westernization of Istanbul and to the formation of the current landscape of the city.

    The exhibition was first presented in Istanbul in November 2010. Afterwards it was moved to Thessaloniki and now is being presented in Athens.

    A bilingual (english/greek) exhibition catalog with thirteen articles of both Greek and Turkish academicians is available.

    via Greek Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization « Mosaiko.