All eyes on Ankara
A different world lies beyond the walls of the eurozone, and it is unstable and full of risks. It is there that developments are taking place that may challenge what we defined as our key national interests up until a few years ago.
We are, of course, referring to Turkey, the turmoil caused by the recent elections there and the defeat of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which remains nevertheless the biggest and most powerful political party in the neighboring country.
Everyone is talking about the elections as a huge personal defeat for AKP founder and strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was elected president of Turkey just last year with a clear majority, directly by the people.
Some leaders in the West may be feeling relief because, in the 13 years of his rule in Turkey, Erdogan often acted in a way that did not conform with the precedent set by his pro-West, Kemalist predecessors.
They are not entirely wrong to be secretly pleased by Erdogan’s defeat even though everyone knows that if he were to collapse politically, it would mean absolute chaos in the entire region.
The so-called progressive forces are also overjoyed by the blow dealt to Erdogan, viewed as heavy-handed and lacking respect for fundamental rights.
They are right to revel because, in their circles at least, humanitarian and democratic concerns tend to trump the calls for stability that usually come from conservative quarters.
Here in Greece, we should not forget that the Ottoman sultan was succeeded by the Turks and the Kemalists, who were anything but benevolent toward the Greeks and Christians in general.
We should also note the fact that, history aside, in the 13 years that Erdogan’s Islamic party has been in power, relations between Athens and Ankara have not been seriously threatened once, as used to happen every so often in the past. There have been some provocations, some aggressive posturing and a few irrational demands, but nothing compared to the 1996 Imia crisis or other similar incidents.
Though no one can know exactly how things will develop in Turkey, there is a strong likelihood that the AKP will form a coalition with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which, as its name suggests, is of a far-right bent. If that does happen, there is a much greater risk of tension with Athens, in which case Erdogan could be instrumental in preventing any dangerous developments.
