1) Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu?
In the West they are preparing to prematurely celebrate an opposition victory in the upcoming Turkish elections as a victory for democracy against the resurgence of authoritarian regimes.
The respected Economist, a banner of moderate liberalism, reported in its latest issue that a possible defeat of Recep Tayyip Erdogan would have global consequences, as the world fearful of Turkey would feel freer.
“If (Erdogan) loses,” writes The Economist, “it would be a stunning political upheaval with global consequences. The Turkish people would be freer, less fearful and eventually prosperous. A new government would repair damaged relations with the West… by ousting Erdogan It would show Democrats everywhere that the powerful can be defeated.”
Western analysts note the marginal differences in the polls and wish the pro-Western opposition parties a victory. They do not understand that what is happening in Turkey is something deeper that resembles a cultural civil war.
Turkey’s Achilles heel is precisely these pro-Western and pro-Eurasian marginal differences that demonstrate a deeply divided country that risks becoming the scene of a real civil conflict between the pro-Western coastal regions and the Islamists in the easternmost regions.
Some analysts even hope that if Erdogan loses the elections, to avoid adventures with the law, he will find asylum in Qatar where he will spend his life in peace as a pensioner.
This seems difficult. Firstly, because Erdogan does not seem like such a character and secondly, because the world opposition has suffered a great persecution to leave him alone anywhere on Earth…
The Erdogan regime is based on millions of executives, members and supporters, most of whom have participated in and benefited from the regime’s power. Most of them will find themselves in the crosshairs of the victors, and because they realize this, they are unlikely to hand their power and destiny into the hands of the adversaries.
For Greece, all possible developments in Türkiye are difficult challenges.
Even if pro-Western opposition prevails, the tension can only be temporarily eased under Western pressure. Turkey of 80 million and a GDP that is a matter of time before it approaches one billion. Dollars are a geopolitical, economic and military force to be reckoned with and will always demand a corresponding importance from the international environment.
Both Westerners and Eurasians will try to lure her to their side. Fate will accept several of her claims, several of which concern Greece.
Greece must be constantly vigilant diplomatically and militarily, maintaining a high level of deterrent power. Greece must be wary of distant Western allies and cooperate more closely with Western allies who are in the region and are directly affected by the rise of Turkish power in their “neighborhood”.
In the long run, the Turkish challenge can only be definitively resolved with the political and military unification of Europe, which has the dimensions capable of appeasing Turkish claims…
2) Degradation will further degrade HEIs…
Good morning Mr. Stoupa,
In recent days, much has been said about the issue of admission to the AEI in our country.
Mr. Tsipras, involved in populism with the aim of buying the votes of the students mainly and secondarily from their families, proposed the admission of the candidates, with the suppression of the admission base to the AEI which is around ten (10 ).
It is obvious that the abolition of the AEI admission basis will further degrade the level of studies in the faculties of the universities of Greece.
The implementation of the admission base in the country’s universities reduced the number of students, mainly in provincial cities. This resulted in staying in hotel apartments, cafes and bars not having many customers and various other effects, mainly in the financial sector (for example, a significant part of the applicants for driving schools are students).
In previous decades we have followed the pattern of establishing countless schools across the country, usually for petty political ends.
Much has been said about the usefulness of the university admissions base, from friends who have sent you letters, referring mainly to the pedagogical field. I will highlight the effects on the labor sector. I am a mechanical and aeronautical engineer working in the Western Greece region. Among my duties, I am a member of examining boards for professional licenses (eg plumbers, refrigerators, electricians, welders). Participation in these exams is low, due to the small number of students in the corresponding departments of the EPAL in our country. The members of the examining boards are officials of the respective local professional associations, who constantly point out to me the severe shortage of technicians. When the current generation of 50-55 years old retires, in a few years, we will not find technicians. We will literally beg them to come to our home or business. Let’s not talk about public or private projects that will be delayed due to lack of manpower. We will be faced with the oxymoron of trying to (correctly) seal our borders and asking thousands of workers to work as technicians or laborers.
And all this because some populist politicians, like Mr. Tsipras, want everyone to enter the Universities. This has the consequence that a large part of our students cannot find work related to their studies, so they take whatever job they find or emigrate abroad, with a negative impact on the economy and demography of Greece.
When I wrote the Panhellenic exams some 30 years ago, admission to the HEI and TEI was difficult. High school students (and their parents) knew that only good students could study. This resulted in a large proportion of students going into technical jobs (eg technical professions, construction). Most of these kids earn way more money than they studied (and rightly so). It’s all a matter of supply and demand. The existence of the bases for admission to the AEI must be maintained, so that the Greek youth does not go unilaterally to the Universities. Our country needs skilled technicians and workers.
Yours sincerely
Georgios Sotiropoulos
kostas.stoupas@capital.gr