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The Greek Current
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The Greek Current

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A podcast on Greece, Cyprus and the region brought to you by The Hellenic American Leadership Council and Kathimerini. Hosted by Thanos Davelis.

επεισόδια 1410
διάρκεια 358 ώρες
συχνότητα εβδομαδιαία
επεισόδιο πριν
ηλικία
προσθήκη πριν

Turkey's nuclear energy ambitions and its regional impact

Turkey is set to join the nuclear energy club, with the Akkuyu plant expected to go online at the end of the year. It has plans for two more nuclear energy sites. Given the strong link between nuclear energy programs and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, many are asking whether there is a risk here as well. Eleni Ekmektsioglou, a postdoctoral fellow in Technology and International Security...

Turkish official says there was no "firman" allowing Elgin to remove Parthenon Sculptures

The fight for the return and reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is back in the spotlight after a Turkish official said that no "firman" - an Ottoman legal document - exists that legitimizes Lord Elgin’s actions to break up the sculptures and take them to Britain. Greece’s culture minister said the comments strengthen Greece’s argument that the sculptures were illegally removed. Dr. Irene...

Greek teams win big in Europe, but can Greece build on this momentum?

The end of May saw Greek sports teams reach the peak of Europe, with Panathinaikos kicking off the celebrations by winning a seventh EuroLeague basketball title, and Olympiakos following up and becoming the first Greek soccer team to win a European trophy. This high point comes after a year where Greek sports was in the headlines for the wrong reasons, as fan violence was in the spotlight....

Energy in the spotlight as East Med Gas Forum meets in Athens

This week Greece hosted members of the East Med Gas Forum in Athens, where the focus was on existing and future gas projects in the region, the East Med’s importance when addressing concerns over energy security in the broader region, decarbonization, and the green transition. Kostis Geropoulos, the co-founder and director of Energy and Climate Policy and Security at NE Global Media, joins...

Has Turkey's standing on the international scene diminished?

Over the last year, a number of regional crises - from Ukraine to the Middle East - have taken the international spotlight off Turkey and President Erdogan. Combined with a number of sharp divergences with Western partners over Ankara’s contradictory foreign policy ambitions and rule-of-law deficiencies, it looks like Turkey’s overall standing on the international scene has diminished. That’s...

Edi Rama's charm offensive and ethnic Greek properties in Albania

Late last week Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was in the ethnic Greek town of Himare, where he announced the restitution of some 400 titles to homes in the area to residents who have been suing the Albanian state for more than 30 years. Rama’s attempt to reconcile with the Greeks of Himare comes as the town’s mayor elect, Fredi Beleri, remains imprisoned, and for many this gesture does not go...

Is North Macedonia's nationalist turn putting Prespa at risk?

After decades of negotiations and acrimony, Athens and Skopje signed the Prespa Agreement in 2018 that effectively put an end to the Macedonia name dispute and opened the way for North Macedonia to join NATO and start the process toward EU membership. Since the election win of the VMRO-DPMNE in early May, however, its leadership has taken a nationalist turn that could put this deal at risk. Tom...

Turkey's inflation crisis rages a year into Erdogan's economic turnaround

Since an economic overhaul in June last year, Turkey’s central bank has increased its main interest rate to 50 per cent from 8.5 per cent in an effort to tame rampant inflation. Despite this, and other steps, Turks continue to face nearly 70 per cent inflation rates, high borrowing costs and cuts in measures that in recent years helped soften the impact of rising prices. Almost a year since...

EU green lights landmark migration pact ahead of elections

Last week the EU gave the final green light to a landmark overhaul of its migration and asylum policies, ending more than eight years of efforts to rewrite the rulebook. This was followed up by 15 EU states - including frontline states like Greece, Italy, and Cyprus - demanding further measures to tighten the bloc’s asylum policy, including sending asylum seekers to third countries. These moves...

Erdogan puts his Hamas connection back in the limelight

This week kicked off with Turkish President Erdogan stating that 1000 Hamas members were being treated in Turkey, a comment that Turkish officials tried to walk back, saw The Times report that Hamas may have been planning to establish a base in Turkey, and culminated with the Turkish leader suggesting that Israel would “set its sights” on Turkey if it defeated Hamas in Gaza. Expert Sinan Ciddi...

Holding Turkey accountable for 2017 Sheridan Circle attack

Over 70 members of Congress sent a letter to the Biden administration this week, urging it to hold Turkey accountable for the 2017 attack by Erdogan’s security guards against American protesters at Sheridan Circle. Members of Congress are calling on the State Department to press President Erdogan and Turkish authorities on this issue as an essential element for relations between Washington and...

North Macedonia's new president triggers diplomatic spat with Greece

North Macedonia’s new president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, has sparked a diplomatic crisis with Greece following her decision during her swearing in ceremony to refer to her country simply as “Macedonia” rather than the constitutional name “North Macedonia.” Prime Minister Mitsotakis slammed her decision, warning that further violations of the Prespes Agreement could jeopardize Skopje’s...