Greece and Turkey ‘yavaş yavaş’ rapprochement?
Dear Member,
This is our weekly round-up from Greece.
An important step towards the rapprochement between Greece and Turkey had been taken this week. Turkish President Erdogan visited Athens - and the two countries signed some 15 agreements. The ‘Sultan’ is admittedly unpredictable, yet this was a positive moment. Apart from the Greek FM caught on camera to… bow.
A new law regarding ‘bad loans’ was passed this week. Despite mainstream media presenting it as favorable for debtors, it seems to give even more reasons to funds and servicers to prepare for a bigger party.
A policeman was severely injured and remains in a coma after an attack outside a venue where a volleyball game was taking place. It has been related to sports violence, yet the motives remain unclear. The police took some… 400 people to the station as a result. This reminded us of how the police don't always react to violence the same way.
The Greeks & the “Sultan”
It all went well. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, arrived in Athens on Thursday for the first time in six years, determined to move on with a “win-win approach” from the disputes and tensions left by his previous trip to the city.
A connotation of the Turkish leader's intention to take a constructive approach also became obvious in how he chose to address Greek PM Mitsotakis: “Kyriakos, my friend (Opens in a new window),” in an article the previous day of his visit.
The 69-year-old leader, well-known for his unpredictable behavior, gave no unpleasant surprises to the Greek side this time. He even allowed himself to smile a few times, although he is famous for usually having a strict expression.
This doesn’t mean he cannot U-Turn at the first instance. After all, it was only in May 2022 that Erdogan said: “Mitsotakis yok” (“No more Mitsotakis”) following the Greek PM’s visit to Washington. The Turkish president had then stated he did not intend to meet again with the Greek PM.
His recent positive stance could have been decided as the Turkish president has opened quite a few fronts, mainly with the West: As to the war in Ukraine, as to Sweden΄s accession to the EU, and now as to Israel’s war on Gaza.
As the Guardian summarized the visit (Opens in a new window):
-Erdoğan told the Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, that he believes it “will be better for the future of both sides to speak seeing the glass half full.”
-Greece and Turkey signed a joint declaration to pursue good neighborly relations.
-The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said he feels
“a historical responsibility to utilize this opportunity to bring the two states side-by-side, just as our borders are”.
-The Turkish president said that no issue was unsolvable.
-15 accords were signed by ministers representing Greece and Turkey, in a sign, say analysts, of just how groundbreaking the Turkish president’s visit has been.
-The agreements include a deal on a 12-month visa program that would allow the growing number of Turkish tourists to visit nearby Greek islands all year round without applying for permits.
Regarding the 12-month visa program, signed in conjunction with the EU Commission, Greece’s migration minister, Dimitris Kairidis, said that “it’s a measure that brings our two peoples closer,” while emphasizing that Turkey was particularly keen on this agreement as they have shouldered such a burden (some 4 million refugees) in the management of migration. The Turks do not currently enjoy visa-free traveling in the EU.
Greece’s tourism industry hailed the deal (Opens in a new window).
Yet, there was an incident during the visit, widely criticized by the Greeks on social media: Foreign Minister Gerapetritis bowed while the Turkish president was entering the Presidential Venue to meet the Greek President of Democracy, Katerina Sakellaropoulou (video, here (Opens in a new window)). Gerapetritis later claimed, “I will always pay the proper respect to the leader of my state.” He meant that he bowed to Sakellaropoulou.
However, it is clear in the video that Gerapetritis bows as Erdogan enters the building. Sakellaropoulou follows seconds later. Plus, there is no bowing protocol or culture whatsoever in the country - not in front of the President of Democracy, not for anyone.
Another law in favour of funds and servicers
A new law on “bad loans” was passed on Monday (Opens in a new window) in the Greek Parliament, only with the votes of ruling ND (158), while 139 lawmakers voted against it.
The law incorporated Community Directive 2167/2021, which entered into force on December 28, 2021, and the deadline for being adopted by states was December 29, 2023. So, from now on, servicers will be required (Opens in a new window) to keep and provide personalized information to debtors about their total debt, the installments due, the interest rate, and other relevant information that they currently do not provide. Penalties are provided should they not abide by the law.
Significantly, the law seeks to reduce non-performing loans in banks' portfolios further by expanding the "Hercules" program (Opens in a new window) to its third phase. In the context of Hercules, banks sell their ‘bad loans’ portfolios to funds aiming at improving their balance sheets. Following an agreement reached with the European Commission, the expanded Hercules will have a guarantee offer ceiling of up to 2 billion euros and will last until December 31, 2024. The Greek state has offered guarantees worth 18.7 billion euros in the previous two phases of the program, helping to reduce the stock of non-performing loans held by banks from 40.6% in December 2019 to 8.6% in June 2023.
However, the law further facilitates auctions - including first resident auctions- as the first residence has not been protected at all since 2020, when the New Insolvency Law was passed by ruling ND.
To single out two of the provisions indicating that debtors are in more trouble:
The debtors are now obliged to pay 10% of their debt as a prerequisite to reaching a repayment deal through the out-of-courts settlement mechanism, excluding ‘vulnerable debtors.’ A lawyer commented (Opens in a new window) this is quite shocking, as almost no person whose house is to be auctioned has this 10% - so it’s like encouraging funds and servicers to make no deals. This 10% clause is reported to have been (Opens in a new window) a persistent demand of the servicers.
In another clause (Opens in a new window), the law provides that the servicers would be obliged to accept the automated proposal for debt restructuring for the vulnerable debtors, which would be provided by a certain algorithm. There is a great ‘but’ here, though: The servicer would be able to deny the proposal if the debtor has provided false data or, crucially, if the money the debtor would take from the proposal is less than the money they would get by auctioning the debtor's property. The servicer can essentially just go to the court with only that one argument: ‘It would be more profitable to me if I auction the house’ - and the proposal would be annulled, lawyers said (Opens in a new window).
At the end of the second quarter of 2023, the nominal value of loans under management from funds and servicers was 71.164 billion euros (Opens in a new window). It should also be noted that these institutions retain their tax residency abroad - usually in Ireland.
The New Insolvency Law and other relevant legal provisions that followed, including this recent bill, have facilitated auctions. This is clearly depicted in statistics: The Greek Statistics Authority registered a 141% increase in auctions in 2022 (Opens in a new window) - a ten-year record.
A policeman was seriously injured and in a coma - 400 arrested
A 31-year-old riot policeman was seriously injured on 7 December by a flare (Opens in a new window) shot directly to his thigh during riots outside the Melina Merkouri stadium where a volleyball game between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos was taking place. The policeman is hospitalized in Nikaia Hospital ICU and is considered to be in a crucial state, with the next couple of days being decisive for his condition.
“A young man who went to defend the others may not return home,” government spokesman Marinakis stated (Opens in a new window). “We are not taking a step back; we will not compromise.”
The Panhellenic Federation of Policemen called on (Opens in a new window) the government to cancel all championships “until the criminal activity of all those stops.”
After the policeman was injured, the police reportedly (Opens in a new window) allowed only women and children to exit the sports venue and arrested all men, even teenage boys. According to the police, the perpetrators had exited the stadium and re-entered it after the attack. They took some 400 people to the police station, and they set 100 of them free on Friday after they cross-checked their details and took DNA samples. They appear to think the perpetrator is among those 300 still in custody. Friends and relatives of these 300 complained (Opens in a new window) that they had no information on their people and were forbidden to contact them.
PM Mitsotakis had scheduled a meeting on Saturday morning with ministers to discuss sports violence.
Sports violence has claimed victims quite a few times, with recent incidents being the killing of Alkis Kampanos in February 2022 (who was just sitting with his friends while attacked by PAOK hooligans as he gave the ‘wrong’ answer on what team he supports) and Michalis Katsouris in August 2023 (who was attacked by Croatian neo-nazi hooligans of Dynamo Zagreb who had managed to cross into Greece despite local authorities being notified by their colleagues abroad).
However, both the characteristics and the motives behind this attack against the policeman remain unclear. It would be easy to suppose they were hooligans, but this cannot be yet verified.
What is for sure is that the stance of the state as to the victims of violence differs vastly depending on who the victim and who the perpetrator is.
On 6 December was the 15-year anniversary since the murder of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Opens in a new window) by police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas in 2008, an act that stands as a landmark case of police brutality in Greece. Grigoropoulos was shot in cold blood by Korkoneas. The murder had then sparked a youth revolt in Greece that lasted for months. Memorial marches are held every year in Grigoropoulos' memory. Korkoneas received a life sentence but was released after 11 years in prison.
Criminology professor Natassa Tsoukala, who had herself been severely injured by a flare in riots in Exarcheia on 17 November 2017 and had stated (Opens in a new window) that the flare “was not shot by anarchists,” posted on Facebook (Opens in a new window) a worth keeping list
“Deaths by police fire
1985: Michalis Kaltezas, 15 years old. The perpetrator was acquitted.
1998: Marko Bulatovic, 17 years-old. The perpetrator was given a suspended sentence of 27 months in jail.
2008: Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15 years old. The perpetrator was given a life sentence, he was released after 11 years in jail.
2021: Nikos Sampanis, 18.
2022: Kostas Fragoulis, 16.
2023: Syrian refugee, 20.
2023: Christos Michalopoulos, 17.
Deaths in demonstrations
1980: Tasos Maglaridis was beaten to death by two members of a police squad. The perpetrators were acquitted.
1980: Iakovos Koumis and Stamatina Kanellopoulou were beaten to death by members of a police squad. The perpetrators were never identified.
1986: Angelos Mavroedis, victim of lethal abuse by members of a police squad. The perpetrators were never identified.
Death while under arrest or in police custody in a police department
1991: Suleiman Akiar, was beaten to death while in custody. The perpetrators were never brought to trial.
1996: Loutfi Osmantze was beaten to death while in custody. The Prosecutor’s Office did not investigate the incident.
2008: Nikos Sakellion was beaten to death during his arrest. The perpetrators were acquitted.
The difference between the sentence imposed on Korkoneas as opposed to all other cases is that back then, Athens burned.”
Read
A Trip Back to Bouboulinas Street, the Torture Prison During the Greek Junta (Opens in a new window)
Dead refugees in the Balkans: bribes to find missing relatives (Opens in a new window)
British Museum Loan Cannot Apply to Parthenon Marbles, Greece Says (Opens in a new window)
After Quitting SYRIZA, Greek Leftist MPs Launch New Party (Opens in a new window)
First Nine-party Greek Parliament In Decades Formalised (Opens in a new window)
Syriza in free fall: The great party of the Greek left collapses (Opens in a new window)
Greek Union Condemns Former Govt Official’s Mass SLAPPs Against Media (Opens in a new window)
Greece and Turkey, Long at Odds, Vow to Work Together Peacefully (Opens in a new window)
Why have relations between Greece and Albania deteriorated? (Opens in a new window)
Greece: The legalization of same-sex marriage remains divisive (Opens in a new window)
Police in Greece investigate after tourists targeted in bedbug hoax: (Opens in a new window) Health ministry says posters in English outside apartment buildings in Athens were ‘absolutely false’
Greece Belatedly Opens Crime File on Dolphin Killings (Opens in a new window)
Poros to Become Greece’s Third ‘Green’ Island (Opens in a new window)
The spill, the fold, the spiral (Opens in a new window) - A cartographic essay/prose poem (halfway between a map book and a chapbook) written from Athens with Kareem Alkabbani.
Cities in Visible by Anargyros Drolapas (Opens in a new window)
Watch
Dead Brother / A Film About The Murder Of Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Opens in a new window)
That’s all for this week, please forward this email to anyone you think might find it interesting and ask them to join our international community! (Opens in a new window)
Stay safe!
The AL team
