TENSION AND BAD BLOOD ACROSS THE GRECO-TURKISH BORDER

Turkey

The Turkish dictator, Tayyip Erdogan, decided to punish the European Union by opening the Greco-Turkish border, in order to allow a flood of migrants to swarm into Greece.  Obviously, Greece immediately sealed the frontier keeping the throngs of people out.  But, as it is a very long border, keeping it sealed, is a very difficult task, so many Syrian and Iraqi migrants entered the country, over the last several days.


Groups of Greek vigilantes have begun patrolling the border and sending the migrants back to Turkey.  Farmers and pensioners, wearing black and heavy boots, imitating Greece's special forces, marched along the country roads, during the night, seeking migrants trying to cross the northern frontier with Turkey.


Things have changed enormously in five short years.   In 2015,  the Greeks were welcoming the migrants fleeing from the wrath of war in Syria and Iraq, helping them to find their way to refugee camps and then to northern Europe.  The residents of the Greek island of Lesvos were even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts towards the migrants.


But now after more than one million migrants have flooded Europe, finishing food supplies and bringing increased incidents of terror attacks, the residents seem to have had enough.  Greece has suspended all asylum requests for the time being, and it trying to send all these unfortunate people back to Turkey.


While there is ample tension around the rest of the world to attract our attention, the border between Greece and Turkey must always be checked vigilantly.  The Greeks and Turks have been at war with each other of and on since the Ottoman Turks occupied Asia Minor.  That finally changed in the 20th century, when Turkey was hoping to join NATO and the European Union.  But in recent years Erdogan has been in good terms with Russia, China and Iran, far more than his supposed NATO allies.


The Syrian refugee situation is only provoking the relationship, even more now that Turkey has not fulfilled its obligations.   A fight that is starting as a battle to block immigrants, could run the risk of becoming an open conflict between two traditional enemies, Greece and Turkey.


A brief reminder of historic events.  The Greco-Turkish war raged from 1919-1922, as they were fighting over disputed lands that have been the reason of tension since the earliest days of the Ottoman Empire.  The Turks brutally murdered millions of Christian residents of Asia Minor, burning their churches, schools, libraries and homes, due to religious and ethnic discrimination, which was internationally accepted as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
 


(I wish to thank ERT, SKAI-TV Greece, BBC, France 24, also Kathimerinini, Estia and all international press such as The Guardian, The  London Times, The New York Times, Le Figaro etc for the valuable information for this post)

Laurel Wreaths for the Innocent Victims