Greece and Syriza have a single way out


As expected, the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) has won the Greek general elections, receiving 36.2 percent of votes. I think asking the question "what will happen to Greece now" would be unsatisfactory and it would be more appropriate to ask "what will happen to the EU," as the Syriza government will tell Germany and the whole EU that the neo-liberal economic polices imposed by the troika of IMF, ECB and EU have come to an end. Delivering his victory speech at Athens's Propylaea Square, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras offered his victory as a gift to thousands of scholars and young people who had to abandon the country due to the economic crisis. He said, "This is the defeat of the elite, oligarchic and anti-democratic powers in Greece. We are ready for a permanent and fair solution with the EU. We will defeat pessimistic prophecies. There will neither be a friction with the West that will bring mutual destruction, nor will the domination we undergo continue. We are leaving behind destructive austerity policies. The election results indicate that Europe is changing now." Tsipras insistently underscored that the massage given by the Greek people in elections was the end of the Troika. Before the elections, however, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who was a firm supporter of the German-centric troika, had said that Syriza's election victory would drag Greece into bankruptcy and move the country away from the EU. The votes Syriza garnered were a reaction to the austerity policies that were imposed by Germany. Well, can Syriza be a government in the strictest sense in Greece and can it have the opportunity to fulfill its promises to the Greek public? The answer is uncertain now, but if the reactionary European financial capital, which is led by Germany, does not allow Syriza to act freely, it will have ignited a big fire not only in Greece but also in the heart of Europe. Before the elections, Germany, with the worry that the potential Syriza government could benefit from the ECB's recent monetary expansion, took steps to leave Greece out of this purchasing process. Accordingly, for six months, Greece will stay out of the ECB's bond-buying stimulus of 1.1 trillion euros. Thus, the German lobby within the ECB has prevented the Syriza leader from a possible bargain with the troika, which consists of creditors.Syriza vowed that if it came to power, it would drive a hard bargain with the troika and obtain time and concession that would enable Greek people to take a breath. However, all these claims are no longer important, as it has been once again affirmed that the neo-liberal economic policies, which are driven by Germany in Europe, and by neocon bloc and London financial oligarchy in the Anglo-Saxon world, has collapsed. On the heels of the elections, right-wing Independent Greeks Party leader Panos Kammenos held talks with Tsipras and announced that they would give a vote of confidence to the Syriza government. Agence France-Presse quoted a Syriza official saying that the two parties would form an alliance to constitute a majority in parliament and to form the government. This agreement shows us Syriza's main trajectory will not be a political line dependent on traditional leftist perspective, but Tsipras and his government will pursue a political path that will strive to overcome austerity policies imposed by the troika. As is known, Greece became the symbolic European country of the crisis that broke out in 2008. For quite a while, the Western media tried to blame the crises on the Greek people, arguing that this was not a crisis of the EU and system, but it was a "Greek crisis" that stemmed from the extravagance of the "lazy" public of a small country. Hardworking Germans were the victims, as they had always been, whereas Greeks, who retired at early ages, overslept in the afternoons, holidayed at Aegean coasts, were held responsible for the crisis. For a long while, the crisis that the whole EU suffered from was presented as Greece's crisis. But, now it has surfaced that those who were responsible for the crisis were not the Greek people, on the contrary, it was the economic policies imposed by the troika on Greece after the post-crisis period. Well, can Tsipras overcome the crisis? This, beyond any doubt, is contingent on whether Syriza can truly evaluate the current period and set a realistic policy in accordance with this evaluation. The Syriza government should develop its economic and political relations with Turkey further. If Syriza digresses to a nationalist path, it will deepen the economic crisis. It should take strategic steps such as the resumption of talks in the Cyprus issue, and cooperate with Turkey on Eastern Mediterranean energy. Syriza demands that Greece's 320-billion euro debt be restructured. Even if such demands of Syriza are fulfilled, Greece should move away from German-centric troika and lean toward its east, including Turkey, to attain a permanent economic recovery. There is no alternative for Greece in the fields of energy, human capital, market and trade cycle. Greece has to join the Southern Gas Corridor through Turkey and has to cooperate with Turkey on the new Silk Road. To this end, Greece has to join hands with Turkey to develop a new political line in Cyprus, Turkey, the Middle East and Mediterranean going beyond the nation-state paradigm. Any other way apart from this means Greece succumbs to Germany's Fourth Reich.