Alex Christoforou
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Facts on the ground change rapidly. Turkey’s President has been trapped in a huge quagmire exclusively of his own making. His embroiling Turkey in adventures abroad has turned into a boomerang. For the first time, his handling of the situation is openly questioned in Ankara itself. He seems to have no exit strategy.
With his barefaced move to send crowds of migrants and refugees to the border with Greece, Erdogan has handed us a great diplomatic gift. Europeans finally understand that they have to deal with an unpredictable unreasonableness. But they are still groping for a response. Like the United States, they are afraid to “lose” Turkey, which, in turn, plays the usual haggling game with Moscow, Washington and Brussels, only this time with a strong dose of desperation.
How about Greece? The government is doing the right thing. It reminds Europe where its responsibilities lie and also shows that it will no longer be “business as usual.” National, and not political, reasons necessitate a different approach in dealing with the problem. When you face open blackmail and the open, undisguised use of the migration/refugee issue as a means to an end, you can no longer handle it with kid gloves.
Some will take exception to this and recommend patience. The drama of the refugees is unspeakable, but no country should bear the burden alone. Especially a country bruised by a great crisis and which bears no responsibility for what has happened in Syria. Northern Europeans should grasp the gravity of the situation and stop facing the issue from the coziness of their sofas.
One last thing: this crisis is at its very beginning and could transmute into something else. Erdogan under pressure, including pressure from nationalists, can become even more unpredictable. A national consensus is imperative! It makes no sense to debate who is responsible for which things. The situation is critical.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/250083/opinion/ekathimerini/comment/no-more-kid-gloves
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
These are no refuges from Syria these are predominantly from Pakistan, Afghanistan even northern Africa. Not a single women or child amongst them, many think these are the conquering force of Islam unleashed upon Europe (and that is what Jihad literally means). Greece should put up a barb-wire all around and get their military prepared
Erdogan is cooperating with Jihadists, that is well-known. Now he is unleashing the Jihadist dogs of war upon Europe.
Erdogan can certainly separate the murderous fanatics from the rank and file when he wants to. He should pack them all into Lockheed C-5s and drop them all by parachute onto British soil, sparing Europe. That’d be a just result.
Yet Greece still co-operates with the very country that unleashed the civil war and foreign jihad terror invasion of Syria and its immigrant invasion as consequence, deciding only to ruffle the feathers of that country’s jihadi middleman. Greeks are a strange lot.
I like the Greeks a lot, I think they would be better off aligning themselves with Russia than with the USA.