Greece is doing everything wrong
Greeks are a passionate people, from their strong devotion to the Greek Orthodox Church to their affinity for savory cuisine. As a Greek person myself, my family has taught and showed me the lively, beautiful aspects of the Greek cultural personality. However, through its own blinding nationalism, Greece is following a hardline conservatism that is slowly reverting Greek society to a Metaxist dictatorship.
Last June, Turkey, the longtime agitator of the Hellenic Republic, had begun searching for oil off the coast of Kastellorizo, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Turkey has laid claim to the waters surrounding the island, citing an internationally unrecognized deal with Libya that splits both countries’ authority over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In retaliation, Greece has called for sanctions and reinforced its defense in diplomatic statements, claiming that Turkey was in violation of its water rights.
Greece’s navy has since stationed ships in the Aegean, an area whose contemporary history is consumed by Turkish and Greek territorial disputes. Recent developments in Kastellorizo are emblematic of Greece’s current internal and external political affairs: transnational interests are taking priority over legitimate ethical decision making.
Around the same time as the oil expeditions began into the Aegean, the Turkish government began preparations for the Hagia Sophia, a center of worship known both to the Ottomans and Byzantines, to be reconverted into a mosque, a move that stoked immense anger in Greek Christians at home and abroad. This rebranding coincides with growing economic insecurity as Turkey delves deeper into a coronavirus-powered economic downturn.
The ensuing chaos ricocheted in Greek cities, where the public burned Turkish flags in Greek solidarity while simultaneously calling for action against Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ fascistic mistreatment of Middle Eastern refugees.
The George Floyd protests in the United States inspired leftist and anti-racist groups to organize similar protests of large proportions. In June, Athens, the cosmopolitan capital of Greece, ignited as protesters stormed the streets. In recent years, the Greek police and coast guard have brutally attacked and abused migrant populations, even sending boats full of people back into the deathly, rough waters of the eastern Mediterranean. Armed with signs that read slogans like, “Σπάσε τις αλυσίδες της εκμετάλλευσης” (“I can’t breathe. Break the chains of exploitation”) and “Black Lives Matter, Refugee Lives Matter,” refugees and native Athenians alike sought to display their discontent.
Protests were at first peaceful, but then erupted into violent demonstrations. Many of these demonstrations were in front of the American embassy in specific solidarity with George Floyd. However, other protesters utilized violence in Syntagma Square in front of the Greek parliament building.
As protests against the government’s mistreatment of refugees continued into July, Mitsotakis’ Ministry of Security introduced a Metaxas-style bill into parliament restricting protests. Now, if Greeks wish to protest, they must have a designated organizer who is liable for any financial damage. Protests must also be approved by the government before they are organized. If they are not approved, protesters are subject to the will of the police.
The Mitsotakis government has been undeniably and outspokenly cruel toward refugees coming from the Middle East, prompting a call for investigation by European Union authorities . Greek officials have called the accusations “fake news.”
Mitsotakis preaches a right-wing populism that is catered toward working-class Greeks, whose support for his New Democracy party has largely come from misinformation and racism toward refugees. Despite claiming to represent the interest of everyday Greek citizens, Mitsotakis continues to govern with a transnational, hyper-privatizing agenda.
Longshoremen in the port of Pireus who were previously employed by the government now work under the names of corporations like China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) and Maersk. Workers have since voiced their concern, stating that new authorities care little for their labor rights. Mitsotakis has also sold off rights to gold reserves to a Canadian firm hell-bent on creating a new “gold-rush” in Northern Greece.
This supposedly stabilizing economic strategy comes as Greece, along with the rest of the European Union, faces an impending economic crisis. Greece has already had a stumbling unemployment rate, especially among younger people.
Greece, Turkey and most of eastern Europe have fallen ill with the extreme nationalism of tyrants like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Mitsotakis. They claim to represent the interests of the working class, but dominate and restrict the power of the public, removing both financial and civic institutions from the people.
What is wrong with Greece, as well as the rest of the developed world, is the unfettered rejection of empathy. It is the selfish development strategy that harnesses prejudice for short-term economic gain instead of long-term development. If Greece is to live up to its historically rich past, it must do so in the name of Greeks and humanity – not outdated, fascistic paradigms of cultural purity and private interests.
