Greece & Turkey revive earthquake diplomacy - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15264270
DW wrote:Greece & Turkey revive earthquake diplomacy

Greece is assisting Turkey in dealing with the earthquake. The disaster may prove, once again, that Athens and Ankara can be good neighbors when it really counts.

In his farewell speech shortly before Christmas 2022, Burak Ozugergin, the Turkish ambassador to Athens at the time, expressed the hope "that we won't need fires, earthquakes, or other disasters to remind us that we are neighbors."

A few weeks later, these words proved almost prophetic. The catastrophic earthquake that rocked the border region of southern Turkey and northern Syria seems to have brought the two hostile neighbors, Turkey and Greece, closer together.

In Greece, both politicians and the general public have responded to the natural disaster with shock and dismay. Athens immediately offered help, and there have been declarations of solidarity at every level: The Greek president, government, political parties, unions, and all sorts of civil society organizations immediately expressed their sympathy and willingness to help.

Greek firemen, with sniffer dogs and luggage, standing underneath a military plane on the tarmacGreek firemen, with sniffer dogs and luggage, standing underneath a military plane on the tarmac

It is not a long way to Gaziantep from Greece, and because of its own experience in dealing with earthquakes, Athens has advanced expertise in the field. Within just a few hours, Greece's special EMAK unit was heading to the disaster zone, dispatched by the government in Athens. A C130 military cargo plane also left for Turkey laden with humanitarian and medical supplies and carrying sniffer dogs, doctors, and first-aiders. Seismologists and the president of Greece's Earthquake Protection Agency, Efthymios Lekkas, were also on board.

Memories of the 1999 earthquake
For the time being, Greece has set aside its difficult bilateral relations with Ankara in view of the drama currently playing out in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The towns and villages there, already afflicted by poverty and war, have now been hit by the earthquake as well. So-called "earthquake diplomacy" is taking effect — a phenomenon that brought about an unexpected rapprochement between Greece and Turkey once before.

Just three years after the Imia crisis over two small uninhabited islands in the Aegean took them to the brink of war, two natural disasters in 1999 resulted in an easing of tensions. On 17 August, Turkey was rocked by a strong earthquake around the industrial city of Izmit, near Istanbul. At least 17,000 people died in the rubble of their houses; hundreds of thousands were made homeless.

A woman in a green top and grey leggings stands in the sun in front of two ruined village houses.A woman in a green top and grey leggings stands in the sun in front of two ruined village houses.

The Greek foreign ministry immediately sent rescue workers and trained rescue dogs, doctors, and mobile hospitals. Greek civil society collected donations and organized thousands of tents, medicines, water, clothing, food, and blankets.

One month later, another earthquake struck the Greek capital, Athens. And Turkey immediately reciprocated: This time it was Ankara's turn to send rescue workers to help its neighbor. Back then, compassion, solidarity, and concrete help eased the extremely strained relations between Ankara and Athens, and the term "earthquake diplomacy" was coined. The positive atmosphere lasted another ten years before quarrels regained the upper hand.


Mitsotakis and Erdogan are speaking again
It's hard to predict, though, whether it will be enough to reconcile the hostile neighbors this time. In both countries, election campaigns are underway; and Turkish politicians like to use nationalist and Islamist slogans, and so far they have shown little willingness to tone it down.

Now, though, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have at least spoken again, by phone. Mitsotakis assured Erdogan that Greece would put all its resources at Turkey's disposal, and conveyed the support and deep condolences of the government and the Greek people over the loss of life.

The Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, also spoke to Erdogan by phone, and expressed her hope that as many lives as possible would be saved. The Turkish president thanked her for both the support of the Greek people and the aid already sent.

And foreign minister Nikos Dendias, who is currently in Brazil, contacted his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Cavusoglu to express his condolences to the victims, and to emphasize the Greek government's readiness to provide immediate support for the rescue efforts.

Everyone wants to help
There is cross-party support in Greece for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria — with the sole exception of the fascist fringe. All other party leaders pledged their solidarity with the affected Turks, Kurds and Syrians, and backed sending urgently needed international assistance, to rescue those trapped in the rubble and provide support for the victims.

A heap of rubble surrounded by tall apartment blocks, with people and rescue workers standing on and beside itA heap of rubble surrounded by tall apartment blocks, with people and rescue workers standing on and beside it

Unions in Piraeus and Thessaloniki have been collecting blankets, powdered milk, medicines, bandages, diapers, soap, and other toiletries since Monday afternoon. Many non-governmental organizations are already en route to southern Turkey.

This article has been translated from German.
#15264302
ness31 wrote:12 000 have perished so far. At this rate it will overtake the 2011 Japanese Tsunami for lethality.


The Japanese tsunami was around 63 ti.es more intensive than this one though.

Meanwhile, an earthquake of a similar scale to this Turkish quake occurred in China 47 years ago, a month before Mao's death. That quake claimed at least 242k people.
#15264363
Image
Above is a map provided by Statistica, that I first saw on Zero Hedge in this article.

1. Notice that the map seems to be saying that most of the countries of the world are NOT going to help Syria. I think the message that Statistica is trying to convey is that no one cares about Syrians; that they are hated just like the dictator Assad of the regime.

2. In the comments section of the Zero Hedge article, a few posters disagree with this. One says that China and Iran are ALSO helping Syria, and that Statistica might have a propaganda agenda.

This map reports that only Russia, Algeria, and Palestine... are helping Syria. But it's quite possible that China and Iran are also helping Syria.

Why would the world just let a country die... because it's being targeted by the Hegemon? Is that why the First Nations were allowed to disappear off the map? No one wanted to provoke the ire of the super-hegemon?
#15264371
Patrickov wrote:The Japanese tsunami was around 63 ti.es more intensive than this one though.

Meanwhile, an earthquake of a similar scale to this Turkish quake occurred in China 47 years ago, a month before Mao's death. That quake claimed at least 242k people.

Japan quake was in the ocean. This one happened in mainland. It hit twice respectively 7,8 and 7,5. It razed half of some cities and entire towns to ground.
#15264374
QatzelOk wrote:Image
Above is a map provided by Statistica, that I first saw on Zero Hedge in this article.

1. Notice that the map seems to be saying that most of the countries of the world are NOT going to help Syria. I think the message that Statistica is trying to convey is that no one cares about Syrians; that they are hated just like the dictator Assad of the regime.

2. In the comments section of the Zero Hedge article, a few posters disagree with this. One says that China and Iran are ALSO helping Syria, and that Statistica might have a propaganda agenda.

This map reports that only Russia, Algeria, and Palestine... are helping Syria. But it's quite possible that China and Iran are also helping Syria.

Why would the world just let a country die... because it's being targeted by the Hegemon? Is that why the First Nations were allowed to disappear off the map? No one wanted to provoke the ire of the super-hegemon?


Have you considered Assad may be refusing help from many countries that have offered it?
#15264399
wat0n wrote:Have you considered Assad may be refusing help from many countries that have offered it?

I can't imagine any leader refusing aid from a country that **sincerely** offers it.

On the other hand, if the USA or Israel (or their ilk) offers any aid... it is insincere as they are both earthquakes themselves and provide **intentional violence** that has done more damage to Syria than platectonics has in the last few decades.
#15264406
QatzelOk wrote:I can't imagine any leader refusing aid from a country that **sincerely** offers it.


Yes they can. They are still human and they can be blinded by their own belief or stereotypes, and wrongly believe someone else being malicious.

That said, I understand if some leaders play cautious, even al-Assad.

In fact, this statement of yours clearly shows how (deliberately) blind you are -- you put good faith in a dictator and murderer because you share his anti-West ideology.
#15264424
Patrickov wrote:Yes they can. They are still human and they can be blinded by their own belief or stereotypes, and wrongly believe someone else being malicious.

That said, I understand if some leaders play cautious, even al-Assad.

In fact, this statement of yours clearly shows how (deliberately) blind you are -- you put good faith in a dictator and murderer because you share his anti-West ideology.

On what basis do you call Assad a murderer, but not western leaders and their narcissistic western electorates who conspired in the destruction of Syria. I call the western electorates narcissistic because so many of them wanted to believe in the pathetic fantasies of a peaceful, just and decent Islam. The Bizarre thing is that it was Bashar Assad supported, by his elegant wife, who were trying to defend western values in Syria.

In Syria the West was aligned with first and foremost with Israel, secondly with Saudi Arabia and thirdly with other Sunni Muslim regimes. A Muslim Brotherhood run Syria would have been a vile place to live, but it was not acceptable to Saudi or Israel, as it would undermine the legitimacy of the Saudi and Greater Israel regimes. Hence their support for Al Qaeda and ISIS. In Syria western leaders showed themselves to be just as cynical, brutal and destructive as the Putin and Xis of this world.
#15264429
Rich wrote:On what basis do you call Assad a murderer, but not western leaders and their narcissistic western electorates who conspired in the destruction of Syria. I call the western electorates narcissistic because so many of them wanted to believe in the pathetic fantasies of a peaceful, just and decent Islam. The Bizarre thing is that it was Bashar Assad supported, by his elegant wife, who were trying to defend western values in Syria.

In Syria the West was aligned with first and foremost with Israel, secondly with Saudi Arabia and thirdly with other Sunni Muslim regimes. A Muslim Brotherhood run Syria would have been a vile place to live, but it was not acceptable to Saudi or Israel, as it would undermine the legitimacy of the Saudi and Greater Israel regimes. Hence their support for Al Qaeda and ISIS. In Syria western leaders showed themselves to be just as cynical, brutal and destructive as the Putin and Xis of this world.


Syria destroyed itself, or rather, the fascist military dictatorship under Bashar al-Assad responded to the pro-democratic demonstrations of 2011 with brutal violence in order to keep their own positions and status quo. The demonstrations became an uprising, the military was deployed to restore order, the uprising became a rebellion with mass defections from the Syrian Army, the rebellion became a civil war.

The Muslim Brotherhood, like the Mullahs in Iran or al-Qaeda in Iraq or the numerous other Islamist movements, thrive in times of political instability. There were many in the West and in countries such as Israel and Turkey who desired this political instability and kept fanning the flames, but it was the Syrian government that built the fire and lit the match.
#15264430
MadMonk wrote:Syria destroyed itself, or rather, the fascist military dictatorship under Bashar al-Assad responded to the pro-democratic demonstrations of 2011 with brutal violence in order to keep their own positions and status quo.

We saw what happened in Egypt when Sunni Muslims were allowed democracy. And Western leaders after demanding democracy in Egypt, then supported its overthrow, meekly following the orders from their masters in Jerusalem. Sharia law and the further suppression of women's rights were inevitable in a democratic Egypt, but if we had pushed for pure proportional representation, Egypt might have been able to sustain an at least half way pluralistic democracy, even if a nasty Muslim one that would make Poland's Papist democracy look positively libertine in comparison.

Anyway my response is straight forward lets see democracy and the protection of minority rights in Egypt before asking the good Infidels of Syria, to subject themselves to near certain genocide at the hands of Sunni Muslim savages.
#15264445
MadMonk wrote:Syria destroyed itself...


What "destroying yourself" means to the empire:

Gravel Rash wrote:The US financed a color revolution in Syria, then a head chopper radical Islam insurgency, then started stealing their oil and food after sanctioning them. Now they prevent aid from reaching earthquake victims. Must make Americans proud of their country...


Here is the article that this reader-comment was borrowed from:

Zero Hedge wrote:UN Warns 'Very Little' Earthquake Aid Reaching Syria Amid US Sanctions

US-imposed Caesar Act sanctions against the Syrian government have impeded humanitarian efforts in the country following the devastating February 6 earthquake, the UN Resident Coordinator for Syria, Mostafa Benlamlih, said on Wednesday.

Benlamlih also warned against the "politicization" of humanitarian efforts in Syria, referring to claims by western media outlets and certain aid groups that the government 'prohibits' aid from reaching opposition-held territory.

ImageIranian aid packages arrive in Aleppo

“The goal of UN organizations is to deliver a message about the suffering of the Syrians as a result of the sanctions imposed on their country … These sanctions have … prevented the arrival of millions of dollars to those affected by the earthquake,” Benlamlih told Syrian news agency SANA in an interview.

“Syria today is suffering from a ‘double crisis’ as a result of the ongoing war since 2011, as well as the earthquake, which made the situation more difficult … before the earthquake, there were 15 million Syrians in dire need of assistance,” he said, adding that now, the numbers have increased significantly....


Since NATO and Israel have been trying to destroy Syria for a decade (or more), this earthquake might be seen as an act of the Western Gods. And the constructed racism (and sanctions) since 911 have lead to the West being unable to feel any brotherhood with wide swaths of earth's cultures. (Trail of Tears is Us)
#15264524
One the map above, Cuba is depicted as "no aid to anyone," but this is no longer correct.

Reuters wrote:Cuba to send medics to Turkey, Syria to assist in earthquake relief

HAVANA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Cuba prepared on Friday to send healthcare workers to Turkey and Syria, joining a growing group of nations providing rescue and medical aid to the region after a devastating earthquake this week.

Cuban authorities in Havana on Friday evening said 32 medics were set to depart for Turkey. Earlier in the week, Syrian ambassador Ghassan Obeid told Cuban state-run media that 27 Cuban medics would be headed to Syria...


And Cuba is internationalist and respects no forms of racism, aid is going to both countries that experienced the tragedy.
#15264631
QatzelOk wrote:One the map above, Cuba is depicted as "no aid to anyone," but this is no longer correct.


So is Greece, China and many others.

The article you cited contains a barrage of Chinese people complaining for the lack of accuracy about Chinese efforts in Syria.

As @wat0n alluded to about the lack of trust between Assad and others, Syrian aid is channeled through the UN rather than directly to Assad because only with the UN can anyone realistically coordinate efforts on the ground in Syria.
#15264633
noemon wrote:So is Greece, China and many others.

The article you cited contains a barrage of Chinese people complaining for the lack of accuracy about Chinese efforts in Syria.

As @wat0n alluded to about the lack of trust between Assad and others, Syrian aid is channeled through the UN rather than directly to Assad because only with the UN can anyone realistically coordinate efforts on the ground in Syria.



The map as I see now show Greece and China aiding Turkey but not Syria. Cuba is none.

It should be noted, though, that:
1. The map is as of Feb 8 only,
2. They do have small print that more Syrian aid is through UN,
3. Syria suffers less damage than Turkey, and
4. They are not saying it's correct, it's what they got so far.

Some commentators (like QatzelOk) should really take a break, even though I would also be glad to see up-to-date information regularly.
#15264634
Istanbuller wrote:Japan quake was in the ocean. This one happened in mainland. It hit twice respectively 7,8 and 7,5. It razed half of some cities and entire towns to ground.


That's why I think it should be compared with the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake instead.
#15264635
FMs Dendias & Cavusoglou hug each other yesterday in Adana.

Image

This is unprecedented, Cavusoglou was threatening just days ago, that Turks "will come at night" to be told that "Greeks operate in broad daylight".
#15264637
noemon wrote:This is unprecedented, Cavusoglou was threatening just days ago, that Turks "will come at night" to be told that "Greeks operate in broad daylight".


Quite obvious that he's either lying and / or he's just saying what Erdogan wanted him to say, then.

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