Athens, 1 June 1987 Greek, Turk relations dominate Greek government topics

by Bob Van Leer

(Athens, June 1, 1987)   Today was devoted to meetings, starting with a representative of the Associated Press at 7 a.m., then to the Greek Foreign Ministry for the rest of the morning and to the American Embassy at noon, winding up with an unscheduled meeting with the mayor of Athens at 8 p.m.

      Greece’s relations with Turkey dominate everything concerned with government. The mistrust of Turkey is almost pathological.  Even at our meeting with the mayor, Turkey was part of the discussion.

     In front of the hotel on Constitution Square preparations continue for the New Democracy (opposition) party rally scheduled for tomorrow evening.  Estimates we get are that one rally is planned to draw from 200,000 to 500,000 people.  However, today it rained and tonight it is still raining.  We are assured that rain is unusual at this time of year, but still the rain comes down.

      The pattern of life is different here.  Stores are open weekdays from ????? to 2:30 and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there is an evening opening from 5:30 to 8:30.  Saturdays the hours are 8-3 and Sundays the stores are closed.  Some of the tourist shops are open longer hours and on Sunday there is a flea market.  The evening dinner hour is late. We went into a restaurant at 8 p.m. and were the only ones there.  The Dinner hour starts about 10 and the peak is about ?? p.m.

      Kerin Hope, an English lady, correspondent for Associated Press, filled us in on some of the problems in Greece.  She said that the Greeks feel threatened by Turkey and feel that NATO (North American Treaty Organization of which the U.S. is a member, as are Greece and Turkey) doesn’t take the threats seriously.  But, she says that when you consider the problems that Turkey has, it is hard to believe that Turkey is a threat to Greece.

      The Greek Socialist government realized at the end of 1985 that is was spending too much and started a posterity program.  This has reduced inflation (from 24 percent to 17 percent) and cut the trade deficit, but at ?? cost.  Real income declined 8 percent last year and this year will be nearly 5 percent.

      Nobody in Greece has to be poor if they want to work, but many have two jobs.  The second job is “off the books” and the underground economy is estimated at from 25-40 percent of the total economy.  The Socialist government of Andreas Papandreau made a lot of overtures to Russia but is now tilting a little ?? way.

      The government came to power on a platform of getting rid of the U.S. bases but is now talking of putting this to a referendum.  She said the government wouldn’t do this unless expected approval.  A value added tax (VAT) was started in January and is in three brackets, 6-18 and 36 percent with staples at 6 percent and luxury items at 36.

      A classic example of government influence in the marketplace is that there is a black market in bananas in Greece.  The government has a ban on imports to protect a few farmers in Crete who grow a small, stringy banana.  We heard again that Pres. Reagan’s “travel advisory” on Greece after highjackings is still hurting Greek tourism.

      An interesting attempt to curb air pollution is that vehicles in Athens can be driven only every other day based on odd-even license plates as in gas rationing days in Oregon.  But she said that what this means is that the affluent men drive their wives’ cars on the off days.

      After the AP briefing we took a bus to the Greek foreign office for a briefing there.  A specialist on NATO affairs went over in great detail Greece’s position on Turkey.  He claimed that NATO problems are basically due to threats emanating from Turkey.  The “bone in the throat” is the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey in 1974.  Greece withdrew from participation in NATO maneuvers over that and still does not join.  The Spokesman said, “We do not create problems, it is Turley that creates problems.”

      The director of U.S.-Greek affairs claimed that relations between the two countries are good and improving, a view not shared by many.  He said there are three reasons for anti-American sentiment in Greece, of which the most important is that when Turkey planned an invasion in 1974 the U.S. did not stop it.  He claimed that Turkey planned an invasion in 1964 but it was stopped by Pres. Lyndon Johnson.  The other two are the U.S. support of the military dictatorship from 1967-74 and U.S. aid to turkey.  He said every step taken to strengthen Turkey is considered as a step against Greece.

      The director of Greek-Turkish affairs told us that Greece is not prepared to change its position on Turkey while the country is occupying Cyprus.  Cyprus is an independent island nation just off Turkey’s coast, but most of the population is Greek.  About 20 percent are Turks.  The Greek dictatorship staged a coup and the plan was to annex the island to Greece.  This is when Turkey invaded and there was a history of complaints that Turks were being discriminated against by the majority Greeks. Half of the island is still occupied by 30,000 Turk troops.  The spokesman said that union with Greece is not now an issue; Greece has dropped this.

      About U.S. bases, he said that no country is happy having foreign bases on its soil but in the meantime we have to live with certain realities.

      At the U.S. Embassy we were told that the Papendreau government came to power in 1981 on a platform of getting Greece out of NATO and the European Economic Community and getting U.S. bases out of Greece.  The government has changed its position on the EEC and NATO and is moving back on U.S. bases.

      The economics officer said you don’t see pockets of deep poverty in Greece.  The Socialist government has compressed the difference between rich and poor, mainly by lowering the rich. (But we were told elsewhere that anyone with any money keeps it in Switzerland anyway).  The deficit of the government last year was 14 percent of the Gross National Product compared to 3 percent in the U.S., which is considered unacceptable.  The government is cutting this by cutting demand.  Not enough investment is being attracted to create a supply side solution.

      There are a lot of small family-owned businesses in Greece and this inhibits the stock market.  Labor is tied to a business for life and can’t be fired even in a down market.  Half of the labor force is self-employed.  Productivity is low.  The workday is over at 2 p.m.  Over manning in government is a real problem.

      We finished our meetings, naturally at 2 p.m. and spent the afternoon relaxing. About 7 p.m. we got a call that the mayor of Athens, Miltiavis Evert, would see us at 8 p.m. if we could get down to City Hall.  This was about a mile away in a driving rain, and because of the rain, there were no cabs available.  Betty and I and four others decided to hoof it any way, even though our raingear was still in Gold Beach.

      We arrived at City Hall soaked but it was worth it to visit with the mayor.  He is young for running a city of 4 million; in his later 30’s by appearance.  He and his deputy mayor are of the conservative New Democracy party (even though the municipal offices are non-partisan) and lost no time in denouncing the Socialist federal government (PASOK).  The vice mayor, Zachos Hadjifotiou, said, “The Socialists have ruined Greece.”  The government went against America, against our allies, and starting flirting with the Russians very dangerously.  We have no friends anymore that’s why the Turks feel they can threaten us.  Mayor Evert said that Papendreau has no policy; he changes from one day to the next.  Evert said that major problems include traffic which created 60-70 percent of the air pollution.  He is a former legislator who plans to go back to that job and is considered a rising star in Greek politics.

      Some of the unusual problems in running an ancient city are illustrated by the planned construction of a block square underground parking lot across from City Hall.  The mayor threw back the curtains in the second floor office we were using and pointed to the block.  A few feet under the surface they found the ruins of another city.  This turns the site over to an archeological department and there it sits, for two years, a hole in the ground.  The answer is to build under the old site, as is done in the subways or, more likely, fill it up again.  The deputy mayor said, “Everywhere you dig there is someone under there.”

      Again we heard about the lack of American tourists.  Evert said that Greece is not Anti-American but there is anti-American feeling about some U.S. government actions of which 99 percent have to do with Turkey.

      Tomorrow it is back to the government buildings for a briefing on internal affairs.