Turkey and Greece, located on opposite shores of Aegean Sea, are two different nations resembling each other.
When I first visited Athens, I worried about how a Greek would behave me after learning that I was from Turkey. I started to think about the fact that while Greek people are also very friendly, hospitable and honorable like us, why Greek authorities’ explanations are hostile to Turkey then?
The next day when I was passing through the Greek parliament, I saw that a crowd was waiting in front of it. I asked the reason. A guy said that every Sunday at 11.00 a.m., soldiers guarding in front of the parliament are shifting with a ceremony. Right there, I learnt that traditional skirts worn by soldiers consist of 400 pleats each of which represents a year lived under Ottoman rule.
In spite of having different sufferings in their histories on a common geography, Turkish and Greek nations don’t seem to have a common future. It is true that we can’t change the history but the future can be shaped if there is a common desire. Erdogan, during his Prime Ministry period and even now, tries hard to improve Turko-Greek relations. However, it is pitiful that the Greek side continues to increase unfriendly attitudes against Erdogan’s sincere peace efforts. For example, Greece has become a safe haven for coup plotters and Greek politicians still raise tensions in Aegean sea.
An article of a Greek journalist Nikos Konstandaras insulting Erdogan and Turkey published in The New York Times is also worth mentioning. After reading Nikos’ article which is full of wrong information, I contacted him by email in order to make an interview.
Nikos responded that; “I am not available now, but if you send me an e-mail, I will tell you when we can meet tomorrow.” The day after I received a message from Mr. Nikos stating that :“Dear Beyhan, unfortunately I must inform you that, because our editor do not want me to be involved in elections in Turkey now would not let me give such an interview. I wish to see you in other issuesat another time… best wishes.”
I replied him as such that “Dear Nikos, you already involved in Turkish elections with your article dated 23.04.2018 at Ekathimerini newspaper with the subtitle “New Turkey’s hasty birth” . It is quite strange that your editor lets you to write against Turkey with incorrect information but does not allow you to answer my questions. Dear Nikos, I understand from your article that while you do not have enough knowledge about Turkey, you have an idea of my country and this is really funny. My best wishes.”
I told him with kindness that he knows nothing about Turkey. Actually, I think Nikos is escaping from the truth as he knows that his allegations are baseless.
Prof. Tayyar Arı, when defining the concept of role, states that “Role refers to the state or attitude that one person has to do or show as a necessity of his/her job or his/her institution in the social life. In other words, the role is the behaviors expected from a person according to his/her position.” It seems that, the institution where Mr. Nikos works gave him the role to spread lies about Turkey.
Dear Nikos, living in peace is in favor of both Turkish and Greek people. I hope you will realize this fact and understand President Erdogan’s honest and serious peace efforts. We expect you to write articles which serve to build a common peaceful future on the common geography which we live in. Remember that those who provoke you most against Turkey are those that are addicted to hatred.
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