In August
The quotes about politics and politicians that have been formulated over the centuries are endless. On the occasion of the ousting of Boris Johnson from the office of prime minister, following the action of a group of government ministers, an experienced British conservative recalled an aphorism formulated by Conservative minister Enoch Powell years ago, when he argued that “all political lives… end in failure.”
Promising and charismatic, Powell, an advocate of imperial Britain, undermined himself after being carried away by his rhetorical prowess, by advocating positions compatible with the deepest convictions of the Conservatives, but in a manner so absolute and arrogant as to lead to his complete political marginalization.
But enough about Powell, whose existence is probably now completely ignored. The above remarks would certainly not be worthy of a mention if a debate had not started in Greece on whether the career of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will eventually end in failure due to the tapping of the phone of the leader of socialist PASOK/KINAL, Nikos Androulakis, and possibly others – by the country’s intelligence service EYP.
This column does not intend to engage in a debate on this matter. We have patience and we will wait. At any rate, a political showdown will be held in Parliament on the matter, to the delight or despair – depending on political preferences – of the public.
And while these things are happening today in our fractious political landscape, Turkey is expanding its influence in the region, redefining its zones of interest, as it understands them, with Greece demonstrating calmness, while internally there is an ongoing political civil war to the end.
But no one should be surprised. Eighteenth century writer Athanasios Komnenos Ypsilantis wrote the following in his book “After the Fall”: “In the year of our Lord 1457. [Sultan Muhammad II the Conqueror] campaigns against the Morea, fights the Greeks, demolishes their castles and fortifications. And during the disagreements of the two Palaiologos brothers [Thomas and Demetrios], despots of the Morea, Demetrios had written to the sultan, “Come and take the place, to get it over with.”
We haven’t reached that point, of course. Nor are we ever going to get there. After all, we belong to the West. And that creates some sense of security. But maybe that’s not enough. Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos also firmly believed that he had the full support of the Entente when he ordered the dispatch of Greek troops to Izmir to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Sevres, but we were still led to the Asia Minor Catastrophe. But these are not topics to be discussed in the summer.
