Neo-Ottomanism in the Service of the Greek Covid Coup

Neo-Ottomanism in the Service of the Greek Covid Coup

Ahmet Davudoglou

“The sun almost set. Martin is nice like Istanbul… it has an eye that sees Mesopotamia…it belongs to a desire beyond this world…Just like Jerusalem…is a summary of the history of humanity… divided societies and the contradictions of the nation and of dogma. The colours left behind by the the tribes which passed, the elements left by the civilisations which were created here…an order was established…you must understand that the arrow which expanded from central Asia to eastern Anatolia, how they intermingled civilisations by the people who moved within the arrow and what type of unions they created by intermingling… the order which we refer to as Ottoman was created by the meeting of active human elements and a surrounding of stability.

We represent  them all…we have a tremendous experience based on Greek civilisation, Mesopotamia, Persian civilisation, Egyptian, India and China, in the Balkans, in the Caucuses…The spirit of Turkey constitutes the centre of the spirit which in the future is aiming to constitute the spirit of the world order…”

Ahmed Davudoglou

Speech to Turkish Ambassadors South Eastern Turkey January 2010

Erdogan’s arrival on the political scene was inaugurated as a moderniser whose sole aim was to bring Turkey into the EU in the first decade of his rise to power. During his second decade a turn towards his near neighbours was made in an attempt to revive neo-ottomanism once it was becoming clear the US Empire was in retreat after the disastrous Iraq war which led to an Arab Spring and civil wars engulfing a series of Arab countries: Egypt, Syria, Libya etc.

Turkey and the EU

Greece became an ardent proponent and supporter of Turkish entry into the EU at the beginning of the 21st century which was stalled with the French Referendum (2005) and Brexit (2016) when Turkish entry twice became a campaign issue. The Greek love affair with all things Turkish can be seen by all the PMs in the 21st century being photographed with Erdogan, becoming godparents to his daughters children, dancing at NATO summits with Turkey’s Foreign Minister  and encouraging mass migration from Turkish shores by a meet and greet policy unparalleled in modern times and can only be compared with the modern tourise industry. Being consistent with neo-Ottomanism the Greek state has funded on its own in times of serious economic crisis and built a Mosque in Athens, buys volumes and volumes of shows from Turkish tv, sells properties, hotels and businesses in abundance to Turkish citizens whilst not once taking retaliatory measures in anything Turkey does.

When Cyprus sold off its sea shelf to foreign multinationals the Turks started to threaten to drill in Cypriot coastal waters. To aid Erdogan the Greek shipowners moll Aggelopoulou (who was the 2004 Olympics organiser and subsequently given the Chairmanship of the 2021 celebrations of the modern Greek revolution of 1821) sold him a drilling ship which Turkey lacked and Greek geopolitics in the region has been to merge with Turkey and that course is still the main direction of ‘Greek’ foreign policy, which in reality is just German.

Since the failed Turkish coup of 2016 and Greece’s anti-Russian line (at the behest of US foreign policy) which became evident in Greece with the Hybrid Wars launched in the 2010 decade and subsequently when Greek agricultural exports towards Russia and the limiting of Russian tourist visas (extended this year to a total embargo) Greece has spent countless flight hours training Turkish pilots who are involved in hundreds of incursions into Greek airspace, but are never confronted only aided in flight manoeuvres. To cover for the blatantly open support for Erdogan a show was created with 8 Turkish officers which apparently sought asylum in Greece and were granted it for their alleged role in the Turkish coup.

Mass Migration

When Merkel ordered millions of AfroAsian migrants funded in part by Turkish airline offers to North Africa with $40 one way tickets to Istanbul then coordinated by buses from there, many ended up staying indefinitely on Greek islands near Turkey: Chios, Samos, Lesvos etc. This led to a people’s revolt on these islands and after the Greek PM tried to quell it by sending in hundreds of riot police from Athens they were beaten to a pulp and forced to return with their tale between their legs. This was a significant defeat not seen throughout the whole decade of the Troika austerity despite mass mobilisations general strikes and protests. Subsequently to this in order to raise the ‘nationalist’ credentials of the Greek PM Mitsotakis (globalist family based clan dominating Greek politics since WW2) Erdogan organised a show in the Greek Turkish border of Evros allegedly trying to storm the borders using AfroAsian migrants and Turkish special forces which the Greek riot police repelled. This was equivalent in form not content with the events that were going on in the US-Mexican border. A form of Trumpism had arrived in the EU by default not intent for the Greek government to gain a new lease of life.

Then Covid hit and the issue of mass migration as a new invading force from Erdogan dissapeared. After the alleged successful Greek Covid Coup and response the Greek govt appears to be repaying Erdogan in kind. Out of the blue and without warranting a reason Greece announced it is willing to go to the Hague to debate ‘disputed’ territorial waters. Open borders once more were back. Erdogan announced a sea corridor all the way to Western Libya cutting across Egyptian sea waters, Cypriot and Cretan and the Greek PMs response was not to ask for a joint Exclusive Economic Zone with Cyprus but to go the …Hague. For a long time now the position of the Greek elite has been to divide up the Aegean and defacto have open borders with Turkey.

Oil Geopolitics

21st Century has led to severe conflicts over competing superpower energy supplies Initially over the Russian South Stream pipeline which Greece signed for then reneged on, then the Azerbaijani pipeline which has been built but not really functionable as the US has fallen out with Turkey, Cypriot hydrocarbon finds and the selling off to Italian, US oil majors, the East Med pipeline deal with Israel, Greek hydrocarbon finds in the Ionian sea has meant everyone is interested and in particular Turkey. The mass investment by the Turkish state in military rearmament in Navy ships even a small aircraft carrier has meant it has arrived on the scene locked and loaded to question various parts of the Aegean Sea from Cypriot to Greek territorial waters.

One cannot of course know or predict the future course of developments or what Erdogan may or may not do, whether he is being encouraged to question every previous treaty with Greece, whether he seeks a break with NATO, whether he is being encouraged by Russia etc. The only thing that is certain is that he is involved in skirmishes with 3-4 countries already and adding Greece on the list with the effect that would have on existing Covid based tourism (which has already collapsed to 90% of previous years) means that the costs of rearmament, the effects of Great Depression 2 and the balancing act with world powers implies that not even the best trapeze artist on the planet could survive this geopolitical tightrope. In the last decade Erdogan has threatened Russia, America, France, Italy, etc. but all his moves towards Greece are measured and in prior agreement with the Greek government. 

The problem that exists is how to sell a victory when in retreat to their respective populations. Both Erdogan and Mitsotakis are in weak positions. The Covid Lockdowns have exacerbated the economic crisis to the point of no return. A war would destroy the existing service based economy in the Aegean sea for both countries and there is no ultimate gain. On the other hand despite and apart from the Quisling nature of the existing Greek political class, the role of the military is an unstable factor for resistance to an invasion could create a real populist backlash. Greeks are concerned there is a presence of a few million Islamic origin migrants in the country and they could constitute a fifth column in support of Turkeys possible territorial ambitions and to forestall this the Greek PM at the behest of Germany (which is facing out nuclear power and requires EU based hydrocarbons) wants to make an agreement with Erdogan.

The issue now is do all the other EU powers: France, Italy or the UK?