As we approach 50 years since Turkey’s invasion and occupation of Cyprus, Michael Rubin, the director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Thanos Davelis to look at how Turkey’s continued occupation of the northern part of Cyprus presents a grave and growing threat to US and European security.
Following decades of worry, have US policymakers finally overcome their fear of “losing Turkey”, coming to terms with a Turkey that is neither friend nor foe?
Nektaria Stamouli, the deputy editor in chief of Kathimerini’s English Edition and Politico’s Eastern Mediterranean correspondent, joins Thanos Davelis to break down the results of the European elections in Greece and their broader impact on the ruling New Democracy, the fight for dominance of the center left between SYRIZA and PASOK, and the gains registered by the far right.
Expert Max Bergmann joins Thanos Davelis with the main takeaways from Sunday’s European elections, which saw the far right make headline grabbing gains, while looking at what this means for transatlantic relations.
DiaNEOsis, which has been monitoring the attitudes and perceptions of Greek society for a decade, just published an all-encompassing three part survey looking at what Greeks believe on a variety of issues.
Turkey is set to join the nuclear energy club, with the Akkuyu plant expected to go online at the end of the year. It has plans for two more nuclear energy sites. Expert Eleni Ekmektsioglou joins Thanos Davelis to look into Turkey’s nuclear energy ambitions and what they mean for regional stability.
Dr. Irene Stamatoudi, a professor of law at the University of Nicosia and a former member of the Ministry of Culture’s Advisory Committee for the Parthenon Sculptures, joins Thanos Davelis to look at the latest intervention by a Turkish official that there is no “firman” legitimizing the removal of the Parthenon Sculptures.
Alexander Kitroeff, a historian with a deep background in Greek sport, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the historic wins of Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague and Olympiakos in the UEFA Europa Conference League, and look at whether this euphoria and momentum can serve as a springboard for Greek sport – often plagued by fan violence – to build on.
Georgia Logothetis, the managing director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, joins Thanos Davelis to look into the latest reports out of Turkey that it is considering taking steps to reopen Halki Seminary, and discuss Turkey’s 52-year trail of broken promises on Halki.
This week Greece hosted members of the East Med Gas Forum in Athens, where the focus was on existing and future gas projects in the region, the East Med’s importance when addressing concerns over energy security in the broader region, decarbonization, and the green transition.
Yiannis Mouzakis, the co-founder and editor of Macropolis.gr, a political and economic analysis site that focuses on Greece, joins Thanos Davelis to look into Greece’s debt, which has exceeded 350 billion euros in recent years, and break down whether it still puts the country at risk.
Ryan Gingeras joins Thanos Davelis to discuss Turkey’s latest decision to teach the controversial Blue Homeland doctrine in Turkish schools, its wider ramifications, and explore the link between the rhetoric of conquest we’ve become used to hearing from Erdogan on the commemoration of the fall of Constantinople and policies like Blue Homeland.
Marc Pierini joins Thanos Davelis to break down his latest piece for Carnegie Europe, “Turkey’s dwindling international role,” and look at how multiple crises over the last year and Ankara’s contradictory foreign policy ambitions and rule of law deficiencies have impacted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s international standing.
Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini’s diplomatic and defense editor, joins Thanos Davelis to break down Edi Rama’s charm offensive toward the Greeks of Himare, the issue of property rights facing the Greek minority, and more.
With New Democracy set to cement its political dominance in the upcoming European elections, the battle for second place is heating up as SYRIZA and PASOK’s leaders turn up the heat to see who will take on the leading role on Greece’s center-left after the elections.
Tom Ellis, the editor in chief of Kathimerini’s English edition, joins Thanos Davelis to look into what he has called a destabilizing nationalism from North Macedonia’s VMRO-DPMNE, and break down what the broader risks are for not just North Macedonia and Greece, but the region.
Since an economic overhaul in June last year, Turkey’s central bank has increased its main interest rate to 50 per cent from 8.5 per cent in an effort to tame rampant inflation.
Rebecca Lucas and Stuart Dee join Thanos Davelis to discuss their latest piece in War on the Rocks – “Crowning Achievement? Kaan And The Turkish Defense Industry” – breaking down whether the hype around Turkey’s Kaan fighter jet, which successfully completed its maiden test flight earlier this year, is justified.
Last week the EU gave the final green light to a landmark overhaul of its migration and asylum policies, while 15 EU states demanded further measures to tighten the bloc’s asylum policy, including sending asylum seekers to third countries.
This week kicked off with Turkish President Erdogan stating that 1000 Hamas members were being treated in Turkey, a comment that Turkish officials tried to walk back, saw The Times report that Hamas may have been planning to establish a base in Turkey, and culminated with the Turkish leader suggesting that Israel would “set its sights” on Turkey if it defeated Hamas in Gaza.
Andreas Akaras, an attorney with the law firm Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday who is part of the team representing the victims of the Sheridan Circle attacks, joins Thanos Davelis to look into the letter over 70 members of Congress sent to the Biden administration this week, urging it to hold Turkey accountable for the 2017 attack by Erdogan’s security guards against American protesters in Washington, DC.
With European elections on the horizon, Greek political leaders are not only hitting the road to campaign across the country, but are also increasingly leaning into social media platforms in their search for voters.
