Day: February 1, 2023

Pensioners Kostas and Vicky in a northern Athens suburb have piled up firewood for the coming cold days.

Their house on the outskirts of Athens, close to the Parnitha Mountains, gets quite cold in the winter.

Although they do have central heating, Kostas said, “for now we will stick to wood, and wait and see how the weather will be.”

“I don’t know how things will go but we have to be prepared and not wait for the last minute, but I am worried as firewood has also gone up since last year,” he told Anadolu.

After the rise in the price of electricity and fossil fuels, firewood appears to be taking a turn, as demand hit red, according to retailers, and consumers are flocking to buy large quantities before prices rise again.

Firewood increased almost 30% compared to the same period last year but residents turn to it to avoid oil and natural gas, which are skyrocketing.

In some cases, the purchase of a cubic meter of wood can cost up to €180 ($191), while in 2021 it ranged from approximately €100 to €130.

The weather has been mild in Athens so far, leaving residents with hope that the use of petrol and other heating products will be used less than last year.

But there is a concern that things will not last long.

For Pheadra Bazina and her mother, Kitty Bazina, the situation is worse. They live in different houses far apart. The younger Bazina is an animal activist and uses her car a lot.

“I was extremely shocked when I saw the price of petrol climb so high. In the past, I needed about €45 to fill up my car but now I pay €60. It’s insane,” she said.

“I rescue stray animals,” she said. “So, I need a lot of pet food. In the past few months, the price of cat food has increased so much that eventually it will become financially unbearable to care for these animals.”

Her mother, who lives in a big house 30 minutes outside Athens, said the price of heating petrol has gone up so much that it is impossible for her to turn on the heat for more than two hours per day. “I am a pensioner. I am finding it very hard to keep up with these price rises. I am very worried. How am I going to make it through the winter?”

Price hikes

Prices have gone up almost on all essential goods and despite the government’s efforts to ease the burden on consumers, the load is heavy.

The market pass that the conservative government of Kyriakos MItsotakis is planning to introduce in February has left citizens concerned.

About 53% of citizens believe the market pass, a measure for subsidizing 10% of food purchase expenses, will probably or definitely not help to deal with surging prices, while 39% said it will probably or definitely help.

Fotini Santorinaiou who owns a dance school is concerned with the situation and her family feels insecure, she told Anadolu.

“Everything has become so expensive and as a family, we have a problem with how we would deal with our expenses and as a dance school we are in distress if the students will continue to enroll cause we don’t know if the parents will able to afford the tuition for lessons,” she said.

The insecurity is ongoing, said Santorinaiou, since the first financial crisis. It eased a bit, however, with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic “it all started again and now this,” she said, referring to energy and consumer goods price hikes.

Despite the easing of the consumer price index, Greek households continue to pay more for goods, according to the country's statistical authority.

The agency said last year Greek households paid €76. In 2023, they pay about €94, or 23% more, for almost the same items.

Prices have gone up on almost everything from milk, eggs and bread to stationery and cleaning products, with many items reaching a double-digit increase, said the agency.

A liter of fresh milk costs €1.87, up from €1.38. For spaghetti, the increase is 38.1%; feta cheese cost 21% more, while branded toilet paper has increased 69%, making it almost unaffordable.

Christina M., mother of two girls and a martial arts instructor, said the difference in prices is evident in her wallet and in the amount of things she buys.

“As much as you buy, the refrigerator continues to be empty as well as my wallet,” she told Anadolu, adding that the housewife’s basket -- an initiative for lower-priced essential goods, does not exist.

Many consumers complained the initiative is misleading as products are either in smaller quantities or not the regular brands consumers buy.

A paradox also exists that Greece is self-sufficient and exports products, according to Eurostat.

An example is yogurt, whose price has increased 26.6% in Greece in the last 12 months with an average of 23.6% in the EU.

With all the increases in the prices of goods, the purchasing power has fallen, especially for low-income households.

The worse scenario is the price rally will not stop. On the contrary, it will continue until the middle of 2023, according to reports.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The current escalation between Ankara and Athens is not exceptional considering their turbulent past, said a prominent Turkish scholar on modern Greek history.

Excluding the 1930s when both countries prioritized the threat from Mussolini’s fascist Italy and the 1950s when both Greece and Türkiye saw communism as the most profound menace, the relations between the two neighboring countries have been rocky, Esra Ozsuer told Anadolu.

Ozsuer, who is an assistant professor at Istanbul University, said the way Turks are perceived in Greek history plays an important role in shaping public opinion in Greece.

The otherness of Türkiye and Turks has been one of the main pillars of modern Greece, which gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire after eight years of rebellion, which was extensively supported by the West, she said.

Although Greeks enjoyed cultural and religious autonomy under the Ottomans and were able to take advantage of the vast Ottoman market, modern Greek historians held the empire responsible for Greece’s intellectual and material backwardness compared to Western Europe, Ozsuer further said.

For instance, Turks generally have been portrayed as “barbaric,” and “ fanatic,” who ruled over Greeks only with the threat of bloodshed, and networks of corruption and bribery, Ozsuer said.

This state of affairs, combined with deep-rooted problems between the two countries, including the Cyprus problem, the Aegean issue, and the rights and status of the Greek minority in Türkiye and of the Turkish minority in Greece, has complicated the path to finding a long-lasting solution, she said.

However, she said, by focusing on similarities between the two countries and promoting people-to-people contact and cultural exchange, relations could improve, albeit gradually.

In this context, Ozsuer said, clearing Greek history textbooks of anti-Turkish narratives and images would be a very important and positive step.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Visiting Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held high-level meetings Tuesday with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa, that will benefit both countries in agriculture, mining, tourism, transport and energy.

Lukashenko landed in Harare for a three-day state visit Monday and his first to sub-Saharan Africa.

Although details of a Memorandum of Understanding are yet to be made public, at least 20 agreements were signed.

“Today we have signed an agreement to set up a Belarus-Zimbabwe standing commission on cooperation, as well as a number of other bilateral agreements and memorandums,” said Lukashenko.

“There are already about 20 of them. The potential of our cooperation is huge,” he said during a meeting with Mnangagwa at the State House in Harare.

The two countries that share similar predicaments, like being on a sanction list imposed by the US, also discussed defense as an additional package, according to Lukashenko.

Although relations between the two countries span four years, Zimbabwe has benefited from agricultural expertise.

According to state media, 1,300 tractors of different models and 16 harvesters were delivered in 2022.

Lukashenko also gave Zimbabwe 179 more tractors and 76 combine harvesters during the State House meeting.

Source: Anadolu Agency

French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks proved his country still pursues a colonial approach toward Africa, according to a Turkish scholar.

"I do not have to ask for forgiveness, that is not the matter, the word would break all ties," Macron said Jan. 11 in an interview with the French weekly, Le Point.

Muserref Yardim told Anadolu that France colonized Algeria for 132 years and “colonialism” refers to a bloody and traumatic period of Algerian history that remained in the minds of the nation.

She noted that Algerians frequently demand an apology and remorse from France for massacres in Algeria committed during the colonial era.

"The issue of France's official apology for what it did in Algeria has been at the center of the relations between the two countries for many years," said the scholar from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Necmettin Erbakan University.

She said Macron described French colonialism in Algeria as a “crime against humanity” while preparing for the 2017 presidential election.

"In 2018, Macron also said that his country used systematic torture during the Algerian liberation war," she said, adding that France has taken steps to confront its colonial past in recent years but the moves were symbolic.

"Macron commissioned historian Benjamin Stora in 2020 to investigate France's colonial legacy in Algeria," she said. "A series of symbolic steps were taken, excluding 'apology' or 'regret', to improve ties between the two countries. In his report, Stora said that there is no problem to issue an apology for the massacres committed in Algeria. Macron, on the other hand, said that he would not apologize for his country’s colonial rule."

French colonialism in the Algerian national anthem

Citing Macron's latest remarks, Yardim said France's official approach to Algeria for its colonial past has not changed.

She noted the French president's remarks to Le Monde: 'If it weren't for France, you wouldn't exist now, you owe your existence to France."

Macron tried to honor his country’s colonial past in the remarks, according to Yardim.

She said an apology would be the first step in restoring relations with other African countries, especially Algeria.

"Some groups, who demand an apology from France over its massacres committed in Algeria, are demanding that Algeria-France relations should be reconsidered," she said. "The traces of the French colonial past are even reflected in the Algerian national anthem. The anger and reckoning against France are seen in the anthem. The demand of both Algeria and other African colonies is that France should confront its colonial past and do what was necessary by accepting the crimes against humanity it has committed."

"However, the officials don’t have the intention of taking positive steps."

French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks proved his country still pursues a colonial approach toward Africa, according to a Turkish scholar.

"I do not have to ask for forgiveness, that is not the matter, the word would break all ties," Macron said Jan. 11 in an interview with the French weekly, Le Point.

Muserref Yardim told Anadolu that France colonized Algeria for 132 years and “colonialism” refers to a bloody and traumatic period of Algerian history that remained in the minds of the nation.

She noted that Algerians frequently demand an apology and remorse from France for massacres in Algeria committed during the colonial era.

"The issue of France's official apology for what it did in Algeria has been at the center of the relations between the two countries for many years," said the scholar from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Necmettin Erbakan University.

She said Macron described French colonialism in Algeria as a “crime against humanity” while preparing for the 2017 presidential election.

"In 2018, Macron also said that his country used systematic torture during the Algerian liberation war," she said, adding that France has taken steps to confront its colonial past in recent years but the moves were symbolic.

"Macron commissioned historian Benjamin Stora in 2020 to investigate France's colonial legacy in Algeria," she said. "A series of symbolic steps were taken, excluding 'apology' or 'regret', to improve ties between the two countries. In his report, Stora said that there is no problem to issue an apology for the massacres committed in Algeria. Macron, on the other hand, said that he would not apologize for his country’s colonial rule."

French colonialism in the Algerian national anthem

Citing Macron's latest remarks, Yardim said France's official approach to Algeria for its colonial past has not changed.

She noted the French president's remarks to Le Monde: 'If it weren't for France, you wouldn't exist now, you owe your existence to France."

Macron tried to honor his country’s colonial past in the remarks, according to Yardim.

She said an apology would be the first step in restoring relations with other African countries, especially Algeria.

"Some groups, who demand an apology from France over its massacres committed in Algeria, are demanding that Algeria-France relations should be reconsidered," she said. "The traces of the French colonial past are even reflected in the Algerian national anthem. The anger and reckoning against France are seen in the anthem. The demand of both Algeria and other African colonies is that France should confront its colonial past and do what was necessary by accepting the crimes against humanity it has committed."

"However, the officials don’t have the intention of taking positive steps."

Source: Anadolu Agency

Decommissioned Leopard 2 tanks from Switzerland could be sold to European countries after being withdrawn from the Swiss army.

Switzerland has large stocks of Leopard tanks that the army no longer needs. Now voices to sell the tanks abroad are getting louder, public broadcaster SRF reported Monday.

The Leopard tanks from Switzerland could replace those delivered to Ukraine in recipient countries, according to the report.

The number of tanks in question is said to be 96, which are located in hangars in eastern Switzerland, said SRF.

Although Switzerland does not want to supply weapons to Ukraine for reasons of neutrality, there is a loophole, according to SRF.

The report said selling the tanks back to the manufacturer, Rheinmetall, for example, is entirely possible. To do so, however, Switzerland would first have to officially withdraw the tanks in question from the army.

Buyer countries, including Germany, could then supply their tanks to Ukraine and use the Swiss tanks for their armies.

SRF said Switzerland would hardly agree to a direct transfer of Swiss tanks to Ukraine.

More than 10 years ago, Switzerland had already sold back 42 decommissioned Leopard tanks to Rheinmetall.

In June, the German government asked the Swiss government if the tanks could be delivered to third countries in Europe.

Bern had approved the onward delivery. According to the report, the tanks went to the Czech Republic as part of a ring swap, which in return supplied other tanks to Ukraine, Rheinmetall confirmed to SRF.

SRF said a "huge change of opinion" is currently taking place in Bern regarding Leopard deliveries abroad.

Although the Security Policy Commission narrowly said no to the issue last week, a majority could be formed in the coming weeks, SRF reported.

Source: Anadolu Agency