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“Because Biden could be the ultimate disaster for Erdogan,” reads a lengthy analysis in Die Welt. The columnist recalls that “already as a candidate the president-elect had made clear statements on issues concerning Turkey, for example in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Erdogan sends the navy and the air force in his dispute with Greece and Cyprus for gas.
A statement on Greek-American relations issued in October by Biden’s campaign team states that “unlike President Trump, Joe Biden will oppose Turkey’s conduct, for example, the violation of Greek airspace, which violates the international right”. and on Turkey’s obligations as a NATO member ‘(…) Biden’s long-standing sympathy for Greece, Turkey’s fierce enemy, has reached the point where, as they say, he used to call himself a’ Honorary Greek ‘and running as “Joe Bidenopoulos” at a pre-election event in front of Greek Americans in 2012.
The essence is beyond symbolism, estimates the author, that the bilateral relations between the United States and Turkey will go through difficult times next year: “The first crucial date is April 24, 2021. On this day, Armenians honor the memory of his compatriots who were victims massacre by Ottoman troops in 1915. In April, Biden had promised that, if elected, he would acknowledge the Armenian genocide on behalf of the United States.
Turkey is fighting internationally to avoid using the term, while the Erdogan government is also prosecuting anyone who uses it publicly within the country. If Biden implements his announcement, for example, on the next anniversary, a sharp reaction from Ankara is considered safe. The next expected test for bilateral relations is on March 1, 2021. Then the trial against Turkish bank Halkbank continues in New York, accused of circumventing US sanctions against Iran. In fact, with the knowledge of Erdogan and his son-in-law and then-Finance Minister Albayrak, this is what the Turkish-Iranian banker Reza Zarab, who testified in this case, claims.
Albayrak resigned last week. “The failure of US financial services to impose sanctions on the Turkish state bank for a long time is solely due to what is said to be Trump’s favorable attitude towards Erdogan.”
Erdogan’s challenges
Süddeutsche Zeitung’s comment refers to Erdogan’s visit to Varos, but also to Europe’s uncomfortable reaction. For Erdogan, he observes: “A policy of interconnected challenges continues selectively. For months, he has been ordering his research vessels to search for oil and gas, sending the navy as an escort, ostentatiously indifferent to the territorial waters of Cyprus and of Greece, which are recognized by most of the neighboring countries.
Erdogan has drawn his own borders. Now he speaks of a two-state solution, arguing that there are already two states and two peoples in Cyprus and that he has given up diplomatic efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem to no avail. It looks like Ankara will soon haunt him. And what is the reaction of the EU, of which the Republic of Cyprus is a member, at least? Nothing. All Brussels has to say is that Ankara’s tactics “would only create more mistrust and new tensions.” “But that is exactly what Erdogan wants with his aggressive strategy.”
Soccer and other … political issues.
Pages of footballing glory for North Macedonia, which managed to qualify for the final phase of the European Football Championship for the first time after a 1-0 victory over Georgia. In its sports pages, the Süddeutsche Zeitung looks back at football, without ignoring the political context. Among other things, we read: “In socialist Yugoslavia, ‘Macedonia’ was one of the six Republics of the Federation.
However, many fans were more interested in teams from other regions, such as Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb.
In the Yugoslavia national team, the ‘Macedonian’ players were limited to minor roles. Beginning in the 1980s, episodes broke out in which supporters showed their desire for independent and ethnically homogeneous states. The ‘Komiti’ group was founded in the capital Skopje, supporting the most important club, Vardar. Its name is inspired by the guerrillas during the Ottoman Empire.
The sense of exclusion that many ‘Macedonians’ had was further reinforced in 1986: due to ‘rigged matches’, ten clubs were forced to start the season with one point less. Vardar did not belong to them and became, for the first time, the champion of Yugoslavia. But second in the league, Partizan Belgrade, appealed and finally won the title … “
But what is happening today? “Since the name of the country was changed, the situation is calm. However, there are other controversies. About 25% of the ‘Macedonian population’ are Albanians and Muslims in religion. And they use football for political purposes: their fans supporters “Skendija, who has an Albanian identity, calls himself ‘Ballistet’, a name reminiscent of an Albanian armed organization in World War II. Some of them wave flags of a hypothetical Greater Albania. “
Source: DW
