It appears Russian President Vladimir Putin will be visiting Greece on the anniversary of the two hundredth anniversary of the Greek War of Independence. This is an excellent opportunity for Greece to get closer to Russia. The Russians as of late have openly expressed support for Greece’s territorial rights in the Aegean Sea and have condemned the Turkish reopening of the Cypriot town of Varosha.
Russian-Turkish relations are a matter of temporary diplomacy. The strain on these relations can be seen through Turkey’s links to and support for Syrian jihadists. The Russians fought against the very same jihadists that Turkey now supports in Libya and Artsakh. Add to the fact that Turkish President Erdogan is emerging as the jihadist successor to the Islamic State which was being supported by Ankara at the height of its power.
The Russian maneuvering can be interpreted as a sign that Moscow sees its “alliance” with Turkey as temporary and that its cooperation with Ankara will be concluding at some point. The defeat of President Donald Trump in the American elections complicates matters because Trump favored cooperation with Russia. The Russophobia of the Democrats may very well complicate Greece’s interests.
The Democrats see Russia as a major threat having blamed Moscow for Hillary’s election loss in 2016 as well as the riots in American cities. The possibility exists that the Democrats will focus on Russia as a national security threat. On that basis, Turkish strategic value for the United States could be reestablished.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Great Britain and France favored the Ottoman Empire over the Russian Empire. This western backing enabled the Ottoman Empire to survive into the twentieth century. The Turkish Republic emerged as a strategic “asset” to counter the Soviet Union, and later Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
As such, both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union were the targets of western hostility and Turkey was a beneficiary in so far as the Russians were considered an adversary. Therefore, if the Democrats target Russia as as enemy they may very well embrace Turkey in the some way as both their American and British and French predecessors did.
It is of extreme importance for Greece for America and Russia to have friendly relations as Turkey would not be able to benefit from such a scenario. It is too early to tell, but the election of the Democrats could possibly revive old strategic considerations regarding Turkey and could convince Ankara to restore the old ties between Turkey and the west.
In any case, Greece is doing the right thing by remaining friendly with Russia and America. The Mitsotakis government has worked hard to build a wide anti Turkish coalition that includes Egypt, France, and the United Arab Emirates. May it come to pass that Russia joins this coalition.
The old bright side to the Democratic victory is the downfall of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Hopefully, American Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt will be reassigned. These two men have done enormous damage to the Orthodox Church as a result of the Ukrainian schism.
In any case, there is reason for cautious optimism regarding Greece and Russia.
4 replies on “Good News on Greece and Russia”
Nothing ever stays the same, continual change. I’ve heard recently that Putin has Parkinson’s disease, which is debilitating. He’s the strong man leading Russia and his heir apparent Dmitry Medvedev lacks Putin’s wisdom and strength. Hard to say how it will play out. And Biden will no likely dip into the ‘Madeleine Albright’ school of failed Secretary’s of State to conduct (wreck) US Foreign policy. Biden is a nitwit and with his cognizant disabilities the duplicitous minions of the CFR will play him like a cocker spaniel. As long as Tayyip Erdogan heads Turkey we won’t see too much accommodation, but when he’s replaced by a Kemalist it’ll be back to the same old thing we’ve seen for decades. Greeks better enjoy the favoritism they’re getting under Mike Pompeo while it lasts, because it won’t. If you liked the freaks you saw in the cabinet of Bill Clinton and Obama, you’ll be getting much more of the same under Joe Biden. Tokens, Tools and Trolls.
I expect that Putin has some guys ready to step up when he goes.
At this late date, Erdogan will not be replaced by the Kemalists. The Kemalists have been gone since their failed coup of 2004. Erdogan is secure in power. I think it might be unlikely he will reconcile with the US but considering the anti Russian hysteria of the Democratic Party, I presume the US will be so anti Russian they will try to work with Turkey. Erdogan being the lunatic that he is will stiff them but I do think it possible that a Biden administration will seek rapproachment with Turkey.
At best, it will be a centrist policy in the near east until the ‘Turkish dilemma’ sorts itself out. Unfortunately, the foreign policy teams of both the Democrats and Republican establishment are war-mongering and inciteful. We’ll likely end up with another Richard Holbrooke style heavy-handed, anti-Russian fool in the Biden cabinet. All the Greek Americans who lapped up the Democrat koolaid and voted for Joe Biden can go back to dancing the Sirtaki at their annual Greek Festival-that’s as Hellenic as their lack of knowledge allows. Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it, as George Santayana noted. And most ‘Greeks’ haven’t got a clue when it comes to what Hellenism stands for.
This statement is absolutely correct.