22 July, 2015 - Katoikos

The Price of Looking the Other Way

By Deniz Torcu

According to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Turkey is aware of the necessity to foster the linkages between political stability, economic welfare and cultural harmony in order to attain sustainable global peace.” While promoting the notion of “zero problems”, what Turkey has in fact achieved over the past decade under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has been the creation of new problems and the rupture of long-lived alliances in the Middle East, such as the alliance with Israel.

Greek banks reopen for the first time in three weeks

In a bid to boost morale and ease the financial squeeze on Greek citizens, banks reopened on Monday, 20 July, after being closed for 3 weeks. Though banks are fully operational, withdrawals will still be capped at €60 per day, but now with the possibility to withdraw a whole week’s worth in one go. Restrictions on overseas payments remain in place. Also, trading on the Athens Stock Exchange is still frozen, along with clearing services and cash settlements for Greek securities.