Ufff, Greek-Turkish relations is a very irritated matter. I was born in this mess and I still can't completely comprehend what really happened between these people. We, Greeks and Turks, are so confused about it. We are confused because of tribalism; because of the hate, because of nationalism, because of ignorance really.
But, as the article mentions, it wasn't always like this. Both ethnicities were living peacefully together even a century after the Greek Revolution. Then our politicians separated us. The one ethnicity started to become unknown and strange to the other. Politicians provoked vicarious hatred to the people, and because people knew less and less of the other side, they let the hatred grow. Several atrocities ensued; Cyprus is the worst but there were more.
And this brings us to today. People now feel this vicarious enmity and politicians control people through this enmity. They use it to gain people's approval, they use it to draft men, they use it to spent on the military. It's a bully strategy really, we are told to be scared because the Turks are coming. There are constantly some "incidents" occurring between the two countries. The fear and enmity is constantly kept high.
There is only a region in Greece where there are Turks; Greek Thrace, and from that region we can see that people are willing to coexist organically. I would say that tribalism is not an intrinsic tendency of the people, at least not this much. But provoking tribalism is an intrinsic function of the politicians.
Ron Paul usually says that war ensues when there is not a market but there is protectionism instead. I would say that we are in a similar situation, our communities got separated and tribalism ensued.
Ufff, Greek-Turkish relations is a very irritated matter. I was born in this mess and I still can't completely comprehend what really happened between these people. We, Greeks and Turks, are so confused about it. We are confused because of tribalism; because of the hate, because of nationalism, because of ignorance really.
But, as the article mentions, it wasn't always like this. Both ethnicities were living peacefully together even a century after the Greek Revolution. Then our politicians separated us. The one ethnicity started to become unknown and strange to the other. Politicians provoked vicarious hatred to the people, and because people knew less and less of the other side, they let the hatred grow. Several atrocities ensued; Cyprus is the worst but there were more.
And this brings us to today. People now feel this vicarious enmity and politicians control people through this enmity. They use it to gain people's approval, they use it to draft men, they use it to spent on the military. It's a bully strategy really, we are told to be scared because the Turks are coming. There are constantly some "incidents" occurring between the two countries. The fear and enmity is constantly kept high.
There is only a region in Greece where there are Turks; Greek Thrace, and from that region we can see that people are willing to coexist organically. I would say that tribalism is not an intrinsic tendency of the people, at least not this much. But provoking tribalism is an intrinsic function of the politicians.
Ron Paul usually says that war ensues when there is not a market but there is protectionism instead. I would say that we are in a similar situation, our communities got separated and tribalism ensued.
Thank you for adding your powerful testimony and insights!