Katoikos World, autor en 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.

Will “normality” come back to Greece?

The last three weeks have been a traumatic experience for the Greek people. Closed banks, limited cash withdrawals and a feeling of being about to experience something unknown and, likely, very bad, have kept the entire population on the verge of a nervous breakdown. On Monday 20 July, banks reopened their doors. Capital controls remain…

A Carthaginian Peace for Greece

By Deniz Torcu

As of July the 13th, following tense negotiations, Eurozone leaders have reached an agreement for the new Greek bailout. A few days ago, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras proposed an austerity plan which was nearly identical to the very one that the Greek people vetoed in the July 5th referendum. The Greek proposal includes strict measures like a unified VAT rate of 23%, elimination of discounts on islands, incrementation and/or adjustment of corporate income and property tax rates, abolition of subsidies for farmers, introduction of penalties for early retirement, privatization of state-owned companies, etc.

The UK Budget and the Politics of Language

By David Yarrow

No language is neutral. When we discuss economic life, we are constantly cutting up an immensely complex and messy reality into manageable concepts and stories in a way which necessarily foregrounds certain assumptions and relegates others to the background. In the process, some policy responses are normalised as common sense while alternatives are rendered unthinkable. How we talk about the economy frames how we understand and visualise it, and we must attend to the way in which language performs often implicit ideological work.

Tunisie: comment éviter que le terrorisme succède au printemps arabe?

The author of this article is a Muslim woman in her mid 40s, of Algerian nationality but resident in France since her youth, who prefers her identity not to be disclosed.

L’Egypte et la Tunisie ont pour point commun de ne pas avoir adopté de régime islamiste au lendemain du printemps arabe. Issue prévisible ou non de leur révolution ; le premier semble avoir voulu retourner au conservatisme militaire, sans doute du fait de la tournure dramatique qu’y a prit le printemps arabe, révélant ainsi un manque de préparation citoyenne au changement.

So now what?

Time to swallow your words, Mr. Juncker, and find a solution together with the Greek people, not against them.

Greeks have voted “No”. They have voted “No” to accepting an agreement offered by “The Institutions” on a given date (whether that offer was still valid or not at the time of the referendum does not change the question, they were asked to cast their vote on the content, just in case). Though the substance may be complex, the question was expressed in very clear and unequivocal terms. Yet the very expensive translators working for “The Institutions” may have proven themselves unworthy of their big salaries (paid, inter alia, by Greece) because Mr. Juncker, and many others in the Eurogroup, understood that the question really was: “Do you want to remain in the Euro and in the EU?.” The Greek government, and many others, tried desperately to explain that the translation was wrong, but Mr. Juncker didn’t want to hear it.

“Yes” to Europe, “No” to further humiliation

By Deniz Torcu

The image that has started to go viral in social media amongst Greek users is simple, yet strong enough to explain the stand of the majority. It says a clear “NO”, however the rejection is composed of the sentence “YES TO THE EURO”. My recent trip to Athens was a clear depiction of how devastated the country really is. The once busy neighbourhoods filled with restaurants, cafés and shops are now being replaced by two yellow signs that mark the desperation of the people: “for rent” and “for sale”, appearing side by side.

Greek referendum: Yes or No and why?

By Maximos Giannis

Alexis Tsipras has asked the Greek people to vote, with a simple yes or no, on whether or not they accept the measures that the country’s creditors, “the Institutions”, want to impose on Greece for the continuation of the bailout deal. The matter seems simple, but in reality the complexity of it may confuse the average voter and lead to a false result. Saying yes to the referendum would mean that the voter accepts the measures and wants Greece to remain within the European Union, still having to pay its debts but continuing to be a part and enjoy the advantages…

Greece: Who’s right? Who’s wrong?

As the drama unfolds and takes unanticipated turns, that appear to be approaching a final dénouement, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the bona fide middle class, non-expert, European observers to form an opinion as to whose side they’re on in the Greek crisis. At this moment, it is difficult to imagine how but the option of reconciliation remains. This is probably what most European citizens, who have difficulty making up their minds as to who is right and who is wrong, want.

The EU’s Dubious Policy on Migration

No news is bad news

Europe is going through sad times. Speaking to the leaders of the 28 EU member states, the European Council President Donald Tusk declared on 25 June war on illegal migration, Hungary announced plans for building a four-meter-high fence along its 175-kilometre border with Serbia to keep migrants from crossing into its territory and the Schengen area. Also, in response to attempts made by desperate migrants who took advantage of a strike among French ferry workers to cross into the UK at Calais on 23 June, the French promised to build stronger fences and station additional border officials there.