"FRIENDSHIP" -- AND REACHING FOR BOTTOM...

When there are disputes on territorial details, solutions are provided by third parties charged with the task.
It is a national shame to buy weapons that we do not need over an imaginary danger that can be resolved politically.

Theodoros Pangalos
Deputy prime minister of Greece during the Erdogan visit to Athens, May 14-15, 2010

One of the oldest principles of negotiation is to never sit at the table when in want and weakness.

Practice shows that "negotiating" when you cannot meet the minimum requirements of mutual deterrence is tantamount to opening the gates and accepting it is time to surrender.

The just-completed two-day visit of Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan to the Greek capital, at the head of a battalion of Turkish cabinet ministers and prominent members of the Turkish business world, was a supreme example of artfully exploiting Greece's headlong rush into a "negotiation" she can neither control, nor actually fathom thanks to her irreparable economic collapse and a domestic front dominated by fear, desperation, and a sense of advancing futility concerning the future.

Mr. Erdogan has already established a commanding presence as a strong-minded leader, wily international player, and devoted patriot, who anchors his determination in deeply devout Muslim underpinnings and full-bore commitment to Turkey's claims as a regional superpower and primary world actor.

Some years ago, when visiting Thessaloniki during an international meeting, the Turkish PM highlighted who he is via a highly symbolic, poignant gesture. With fellow government leaders lining up for a photo opportunity, Mr. Erdogan spotted that some asinine Greek aide had placed name tags for each of the leaders on the ground, to mark participants' positions for the photo shoot, and next to each tag a plastic copy of each nation's national flag.

With the Greek prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, nonchalantly stepping on the Greek national symbol as he took up his spot, Mr. Erdogan stopped, bent down, lifted the Turkish flag, kissed it, and kept it to his chest. The photo shoot was over and the Turkish prime minister had starkly underscored where he stood vis-a-vis his Greek counterpart......

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