It is a good thing that there are 13 EU member states that are against intervention in Venezuela, despite some following the U.S. and willing to overthrow its democracy. One of these states is Greece. Both EU member Greece and EU candidate Turkey know what it is like to live through a military regime or a fascist coup thanks to painful memories of the past.

In both countries, uniformed fascist military officers caused much suffering. Greece suffered under the fascist military regime of colonels for many years. In Turkey soldiers orchestrated a coup and executed a democratically elected prime minister and his two ministers. Fascist military officers that orchestrated coups in 1971 and 1980 caused many murders or executions. And finally, on July 15, 2016, a bloody fascist coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was prevented by heroic Turkish citizens. In short both Greece and Turkey, due to some very righteous reasons, are against the U.S. and their attempts to intervene in Venezuela. They are in support of Venezuela's democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro and behind democracy-supporting citizens.

Two statesmen that know the value of democracy very well are President Erdoğan and Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who held a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 5, 2019 and was also in Istanbul the next day. This meeting between the leaders of Turkey and Greece which have had many historical and contemporary problems between them, and the importance they gave to communication between the two countries, is very precious.

Turkey and Greece are two "neighbor" states that cannot completely become "friends" due to unresolved issues like the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, West Thracian Turks and the fact that coup-perpetuating fascist terrorists found shelter in Greece.

In fact, many of these problems are exploited by EU member states to prevent Turkey's EU membership. In the EU, Greece has always been seen as the country that prevented Turkey's membership to the EU. However, the truth is different. Greece was always being put in the spotlight intentionally. The real opposition has always hidden behind Greece.

The same game is now being played for the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) that carried out the bloody coup attempt in Turkey. After July 15, 2016, many EU member states pressured Greece to provide asylum to terrorists that flew to Greece via helicopter the day after the coup attempt. Tsipras had intentions of handing these coup-perpetuating terrorists back from the very first day but a very powerful EU member state, which has exploited the economic crisis in Greece when it was suffering, did not allow this. Because the state in question is like a "hotel" for members of FETÖ. If Greece was to return the terrorists this state would have been in a difficult position.

Due to these circumstances, during the meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan rightfully felt the need to say, "As Turkey, we believe all of the problems we have with Greece can be solved peacefully and righteously. Our expectation from Greece is not to become a safe haven for members of terrorist organizations like FETÖ, the PKK and DHKP-C [Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front]. During our meetings, we expressed our expectations regarding the return of FETÖ members [and] coup perpetrators to our Greek friends' attention once again. We are expecting more cooperation from our neighbor Greece. It is the expectation of our nation, the families of the martyrs and 2,193 veterans that were been wounded on the night of July 15 by FETÖ member villains. We hope that the coming period will be a new one where these expectations are met."

President Erdoğan said that one of the subjects they discussed was the "war against terror," and that both Turkey and Greece are two countries that know the bloody face of terror very well, and for this reason it was very important to address this issue within the context of alliance and neighborhood. It is harmful for relations between the two countries for Greece, which advocates democracy in Venezuela, to be in a position that makes it look like it is willingly harboring terrorists that are against democracy in Turkey. However, both nations' citizens see each other as very close. In the summer Turks form the largest group of tourists in Greece. Of course, both countries have to come together more. Issues like Cyprus, the Aegean Islands and asylum seekers are not matters that can be solved easily. There are many more steps that needs to be taken regarding Thracian Turks in Greece and Greeks in Turkey. However, both leaders are determined to follow through with the meeting in Ankara. Especially, in regards to economic collaboration, bilateral agreements are going to be signed.

All of these are good developments as Greece is able to see Turkey as an "ally" not as a "threat" and both nations will profit from this collaboration. In reality for Greece, it is profitable to support Turkey's EU membership. If both countries are willing, they can also come into an agreement in Cyprus by accepting the reality that both societies are accustomed to living with the status-quo within the lands they are living in. For the solution of all of these problems, dialogue between Turkey and Greece is very important.