THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS OF THE GREEK TURKISH ANTAGONISM
EuropeNews
e/23509
May 28 2009
I met the author of Themata Politica, Christos Evangeliou, in the late
1990s. I read something he had written on the Black Athena slander
of those who hate the Greeks. I called him up at Towson University
in Baltimore, Maryland where he is a professor of Hellenic philosophy.
Christos C. Evangeliou: Themata Politica: Hellenic and
Euro-Atlantic. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. 265
pages. ISBN 1 – 84718 – 617 – 3. ISBN (13): 9781847186171. $ 52.99.
We discussed the obsession of some American academics, why
otherwise well-educated people resurrect the Christian hatred
against the Greeks? What is the political purpose of such a smear
campaign? Perhaps to boost the low self esteem of black Americans? Or
to replace Greek culture with Judeo-Christian values in the core
of the Western tradition? After all, Israel, not Greece, is at the
center of American foreign policy.
Evangeliou sent me his 1997 book, The Hellenic Philosophy: Between
Europe, Asia and Africa. This is a marvelous history of philosophy,
which I read with great profit and pleasure. Here is a book, finally,
that captured the wisdom and beauty of Greek philosophy: the struggle
of the Greeks to understand themselves, what makes people human,
and how reason, not faith, is the guide to studying the universe and
nature as well as problem solving and happiness.
Evangeliou`s book also fired me to work on my own history on what
happened to the ancient Greeks. Why, suddenly, after the fourth century
even the name Hellene became rare in Western literature? Why the Roman
Empire and the Christian Church smashed Hellenic culture and, in fact,
they outsourced the destruction of the Greek temples to barbarians? An
army of monks led those barbarians to the sacred sites of the Greeks. I
answered these questions in The Passion of the Greeks: Christianity
and the Rape of the Hellenes, which was published in the United States
in 2006. Evangeliou reviewed my book in the Mediterranean Quarterly
and he reprinted that review in his Themata Politica (chapter 9).
Evangeliou is a Hellene born in Christian Greece and educated in
Greece and the United States. His affection and understanding of
Hellas and her philosophy, which he teaches at his university, shine
through in his scholarly work and essays he wrote for the readers of
two Greek American weeklies, The National Herald and the Hellenic
News of America. That`s why his Themata Politica, which includes
these lucid essays, is so useful and timely. The book was published
in England in 2008.
Themata Politica is divided into two parts. The first part covers the
essays dealing with the explosive politics governing the relationships
between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. The second part examines the
aspirations of Muslim Turkey to join the Christian club of the European
Union, a project pushed vigorously by the United States. The entire
discussion of this book is also shaped by the tragic Muslim attack
against the United States in September 11, 2001. Islam, rightly,
plays a significant role in the pregnant analysis of this book.
Evangeliou sheds light especially on Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, the hegemonic power that
replaced Western Europe as the arbiter of war and peace in the
world. Themata Politica ought to be on the reading list of educated
persons everywhere, in particular those practicing diplomacy. This
book is a series of succinct and well-written essays full of wisdom. It
explains the history of the crises dominating Greek-Turkish relations
since World War II.
Certainly the occupation of Christian Greece by the Moslem Turks
from 1453 to 1821 has left a residue of mistrust and hatred that
contributes to the ceaseless antagonism between Greeks and Turks. But
there are external forces that have been stocking the fires between
Greeks and Turks for several decades – especially in the Greek island
of Cyprus. Britain holds the first place in this tragedy, sowing the
seeds of discord, which America keeps fertilizing.
The revolt in the 1950s of the Greek Cypriots against the British
colonial rule of their land forced Britain out of Cyprus. Britain
took revenge against the Greeks, however. Britain holds to this day
Cypriot territory for "sovereign" military bases on the island of
Aphrodite. In addition, Britain urged the Turks to keep their eyes
on the Greek prize; riot against the Greek community in Istanbul, for
example. The Turks did exactly that quite thoroughly in their vicious
state pogrom of September 6-7, 1955. Turkish violence ended Greek
society in Istanbul, which has been Turkish for 556 years. Before
the Turks, Istanbul was Constantinople for 1,300 years. And before
the Christian Byzantine era, Constantinople was the Hellenic polis
Byzantion for 1,100 years. All in all, this was a city founded and
inhabited by Greeks for some 2.5 millennia.
The prosecution, cleansing and final destruction of the Greeks in
Istanbul in 1955 added another layer of hatred between Greeks and
Turks. Britain and possibly America instigated the war policy of
Turkey in Cyprus, ending with the Turkish capture of about 40 percent
of Cyprus in 1974.
The result of British and American support for Turkey, a Moslem country
with a legacy of centuries of violence and genocide against the Greeks,
Armenians and several other people in Europe and Asia, is a resurgent
Turkish colonialism in Cyprus and perpetual threats against Greece,
especially in the eastern Aegean and Thrace. This danger is also a
paradox because imperial America has both Turkey and Greece in her
military camp, NATO.
But these "allies," Greece and Turkey, are in a state of low-level
warfare that, apparently, suits American interests fueling profitable
arms sales to Turkey and Greece. As for the European Union that
includes Greece, and NATO members other than Britain and the US,
remain silent or apathetic about the tragic position of Greece in their
midst. Could it be that the powerful states of Europe also benefit
from the dangerous strategy of Turkey against Greece and Cyprus?
The other possibility is to explain the paralysis of the European
Union as the outcome of successful American foreign policy. After all,
if the European Union were ever to become a real union, it will be a
real antagonist of imperial America. And should a reawakened European
Union invite Russia to join in its ranks, the result would be a
superpower much larger and stronger than the United States. This is
the likely reason why America is demanding that the European Union
embrace Turkey in its ranks. Turkey would be a potential missile
directed against the flimsy union of the Europeans.
Evangeliou explains the foreign imperialism behind the Greek-Turkish
volcano. His vision, however, is not for more war but for cooperation
and peace between Greeks and Turks. For example, in chapter 18,
he says the Greeks and the Turks are the "heirs of Byzantium." The
Turkish Empire was "worthy heir of Byzantine Empire … the Greeks
are too closely connected to the Turks culturally." If Greece were
not a member of the European Union, Evangeliou speculates that such
condition might have been "a blessing in disguise," forcing "these
two closely related countries," Greece and Turkey, "to find ways to
work together to solve their problems peacefully and to undertake
common cultural projects."
Furthermore, according to Evangeliou, Greece and Turkey "could
rediscover the common roots of their identities in the Ottoman Empire,
the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire, the Hellenistic Empires, and
ultimately in the Classical Hellenic civilization. More importantly,
they could conceivably become the nucleus for the creation of a new
model of Federation of States (including Cyprus and the Balkan States)
that share in this common cultural heritage."
All this is well meaning by a thoughtful philosopher. Modern Greeks
can reasonably say they are the heirs of Byzantium and, to some
degree, of ancient Greece. Though Christians, they live where the
ancient Greeks lived and speak Greek. But how could Moslem Turks
"rediscover" any connections with the Greeks` Byzantine, much less
classical heritage? The Turks, tracing their origins in Mongolia,
are relatively newcomers to Anatolia and Europe. They had their
first major victory against the Byzantine Greeks in 1071. However,
Evangeliou is right that there are plenty of Greeks hiding under the
skin of the Turks. After all, the Turks, like the Christians before
them, used violence to convert those they conquered. The alternative
to conversion to Islam was slavery or death.
Second, a federation of Turkey and states in southeastern Europe might
be an option to avoiding war. But as long as the Turks remain Moslem
and double their population every 20 years or so, the chances for
peaceful relations with Greece are slim for the additional reason that
a federation with Turkey would turn into another Ottoman Empire. In
fact, the rumor among those studying America`s strategic interests
is that America is about to "promote" Turkey to a "regional" power,
which would have some oversight over Greece. There`s another rumor
that says that NATO, the US, and Greece have agreed to eventually
expand Turkey`s control in the eastern Aegean and Thrace.
In the spring of 2009, President Barak Obama went to Turkey and made
a fool of himself. According to the remarks he made to the Turkish
parliament published by the Associated Press on April 6, Obama compared
George Washington to Mustafa Kemal. This was the Turkish general who
supervised the genocide of the Greeks, Armenians and several other
nations in Anatolia and Europe in early twentieth century. Obama
also spoke about "Turkey`s greatness," the "beauty" and "richness"
of Turkish history and culture. He also did not miss the opportunity
to urge the Europeans to open their Union to the Turks. However,
he conveniently forgot to remind the Turks they ought to, at least,
come to grips with their murderous past.
Unfortunately, narrow imperial interests trump Western
civilization. Obama thought it appropriate to visit Ankara and Istanbul
but not Athens. America remains on the side of the Turks.
Under these geopolitical realities and the genocidal legacy of Turkey,
Evangeliou`s dream about Greece and Turkey remains a dream. However,
should Turkey and Greece discard their Islam and Christianity, Greeks
and Turks could think of peaceful relations. Without the fanaticism
and economic interests of those alien monotheistic religions, Greeks
and Turks would be free to treat each other with respect. At that
moment, which may never materialize, the Greeks under the skin of
the Turks would reveal themselves. The ancient Greek heritage would
then become a living model for another Renaissance and politics in
both Turkey and Greece – an even larger dream than that of Evangeliou.
Political dreams are often necessary. Still, Evangeliou is also
practical. His Themata Politica, an insightful, path-breaking and
well-written book, is best suited for political leaders and students
and scholars of Greece, Turkey and America. Every page teases the
mind and has something to teach.
Evangeliou even warned president Bill Clinton about "a sleeping
Cyclops, the Giant of Islam." He said this is a religion "driven by a
fanatical faith," which after 2 centuries of lethargic existence is
ready "to strike again with force, and shake up the Western world
fundamentally." Evangeliou was right. Islam is fully awakened,
fighting and shaking up America and the West. Yet, President Obama
told the Turks that the United States "is not, and will never be,
at war with Islam."
Evangeliou, a student of Platon, is using and spreading the reason
and enlightenment of the Hellenic master for an understanding of the
world. He is convinced the world needs the wisdom of the Hellenes,
especially the paradigm of the Platonic paideia (advanced education
and science). "Socratic sanity and humanism," he says, "can … serve
humanity as an antidote to its natural bigotry and fanaticism,
especially the fanaticism of exclusively apocalyptic and intolerant
religions, like missionary Christianity and militant Islam, which
… they seem determined to collide again as forcefully as before
with tragic consequences for mankind and the education of younger
generations in Hellenic and humane excellence."
Chapter 38 is revealing of the "devious faiths of Abraham," how
credulous billions of humans take seriously the hazardous nonsense of
Christianity and Islam. Evangeliou compares the killing utterances
of the Bible and Koran, how both religions, especially Islam, teach
hatred and war against each other. Evangeliou is right that such
"monotheistic mania and religious intolerance" diminish "the light
of Hellenic philosophy" and make "the voice of reason inaudible."
Evangeliou also warns the European Union that is entangled in
America?s unthinking "war on terror." Unless the EU wakes up it is
preparing its own downfall to militant Islam. The expanding war on
terror is pushing Muslims to the shores of prosperous Europe. Add
to these migrants the millions of Muslims already living in Italy,
United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain and Greece and the ground
is set for internal conquest. The prospect of EU admitting Turkey`s
70 million Muslims will provide the turning point in the dream of
Islam in conquering Europe without a war.
So Themata Politica is more than Greek-Turkish relations. It`s a
global political assessment of the West as it is facing an identity
crisis and the prospect for another dark age. Islam, "a monistic and
fanatical faith," is, in fact, the giant Cyclops threatening both
America and the European Union.
In addition, Evangeliou loves Greece. His chief purpose in life
and the thesis of his books, including Themata Politica, is to help
Greece, his motherland, come close to Hellas. He tells the Greeks
they are descendants of people who valued paideia. These ancients
Greeks took paideia and fashioned democracy and philosophy. Modern
Greeks, Evangeliou says, can, once again, become pioneers in matters
of culture and enlightenment throughout the world. And, clearly,
they ought to stop being second-class citizens in Europe.
Read Themata Politica. It is an original book. It is also appetizing
food for Hellenic thought. Moreover, it is good for the soul. After
all, Evangeliou is not merely a Hellenic philosopher in the path of
Platon but a poet with 3 poetic collections in Greek. He ends his
book with a "Hymn to Human Folly," which makes fun of the tragedy
of militant Islam. "As in dark ages old," he says, "Christian and
Muslim foes clash again. Will we ever find the way to soothe the
human soul`s pain?"
Evaggelos Vallianatos is the author of This Land is Their Land and
The Passion of the Greeks.