Karamanlis under assault

Taki Theodoracopulos

The government of Constantine Karamanlis has come under increasing fire recently from the Socialist leader Andreas Papandreou, the communists, and the leftist press. The most virulent attacks have come from the radical firebrand Papandreou, who has charged the government with being a 'tool of foreign monopolies,' and party to a sell-out of Greek territory. The harsh accusations— which border on charges of treason—might raise eyebrows among western observers but are par for the course in Greek politics. If one believes that history repeats itself, it was thirteen yrs ago that the same kind of 'disloyal qpposition' and rabble-rousing rhetoric by' Andreas and his father George had forced Karamanlis to leave Greece disillusioned for self-exile in Paris. Karamanlis had at the time ruled effectively for eight years, and was the undisputed architect of Greece's reconstruction from the ruins of World War II and the ensuing communist uprising.

Although Karamanlis is not about to quit —he enjoys an unprecedented majority of 220 out of 300 parliamentary seats—Papan dreou's demagogy is still the chief threat to stable government in Greece. The conflict between the two men—with its wide politi

cal and ideological implications—is over Greece's position vis-iftvis her neighbours:

Should Greece be aligned with Europe and the West, or stay non-aligned in the Arab or African mould ?

Karamanlis is the greatest exponent of the former view. He believes that Greece 'belongs to the West' and that her cultural, Political, and ethnic traditions—not to mention her commercial interests—require her to enter the EEC. His opponents conceive Greece as a non-aligned nation, closely associated with Arab countries, a cross between Tito's Yugoslavia and Gaddafi's Libya. They claim that taking their country into the EEC is a plot by western monopolies and American multinationals to keep it subservient to the military-industrial complex of the US.

Papandreou has managed to undermine the government's pro-western policies with brilliant propaganda ploy that associates imperialism and fascism with America and free enterprise and a free and pluralist sc'clety with Arab and African nations. Incredible as it might seem, this newspeak has found credence among very many Greeks.

Papandreou's agitation appeals to many who are not allied to him politically. Its

nationalistic, super-patriotic ring satisfies many lower rank officers who are disillusioned with the West and its decadence. This IS Important as the army has been known to

meddle in Greek politics. His accusations that America masterminded the Colonels' coup of 1967, that she sustained them throughout seven years, and that she was behind the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, help alleviate guilt feelings. And he has had unexpected help in his fight to embarrass and undermine the government from Turkey's provocations in the Aegean and intransigence over Cyprus.

'I warned you,' he told a meeting of party followers recently: 'American plans, executed by NATO and approved by the EEC, will see our Aegean islands taken over by Turkey, our air-space declared a Turkish corridor so that NATO can operate freely, our oil deposits divided among Turkey and western monopolies. The only way to stop them is to cut all ties with the West.'

Given the fact that America, NATO, the EEC, and the UN have none of them been able to make Turkey budge, Papandreou's nightmare scenario gains acceptance by the hour and is embarrassing a government which is already spending billions she cannot afford for armaments. Even the government's responsible handling of the situation, when the Turkish research ship Sismic / began prospecting for oil in Aegean seabed areas claimed by Greece under the 1958 Geneva convention, backfired in the eyes of many people. Papandreou declared that the government should order its sinking immediately. This was music to frustrated Greek ears but made the government look weak and cowardly.

Papandreou's virulent anti-American, anti-NATO anti-EEC campaign places him at times way to the left of the communists. He is nevertheless supported in parliament by them as they let him do most of the dirty work in undermining the government.

There are, however, a few responsible communists who view Papandreou's line as divisive and damaging to the national interest, and the man as a cynical, selfseeking irresponsible demagogue. The most prominent of those is the composer Mikis Theodorak is.

Although the two communist parties along with Papandreou's Socialists hold only twenty-four out of 300 parliamentary seats (the Social Democrats hold around fifty-five) press coverage of their antiwestern fulminations is as disproportionate as it is favourable. Why is the Greek press so radical ? After World War II the communist mouthpiece Avghi was the only newspaper that trained young people to become journalists, sending them out to work for non-communist papers once their training and indoctrination was finished. Journalists' salaries are among the lowest in Europe, and proprietors among the most greedy. The Minister of Information, Takis Lambrias, an ex-journalist who published an anti-junta sheet in London during the dictatorship, has called the Greek press the 'yellowest in the world'. Many foreign journalists based in Greece agree.

After America, the country most pilloried by the press is West Germany. It all started when the convicted terrorist Rolf Pohle—a member of the Baader-Meinhof gang who was exchanged for the kidnapped politician Peter Lorenz—surfaced in Athens last August. The Greek police arrested him but such was the outcry from segments of the press that the government turned the matter over to the courts rather than send him straight back to Germany. Despite the evidence, he claimed to be apolitical fugitive and even succeeded in convincing a Greek Court of Appeals. In the meantime leftist papers described West Germany as a totalitarian state, a nation full of concentration camps, a 'worthy successor to the Nazi regime of Hitler'. German efforts to help dissident Greeks during the dictatorship were forgotten. However, in spite of the intimidating climate, the Greek Supreme Court finally extradited Pohle on 1 October.

Such is the bellicosity of the press that hardly a voice is raised in protest at its excesses without it being immediately, and at times permanently, silenced. The insidious method most commonly used to discredit politicians or commentators critical of the press is to label them anti-Greek. My own case might illustrate the fury of the fourth estate in the birthplace of democracy. An article which I wrote last February for the American National Review led to a prosecution for criminal libel by loannis Horn, publisher of Athens News, the paper which gave a list of alleged CIA agents in Greece. A sentence of fifteen months' imprisonment was passed on me last week in my absence. The case is now under appeal and I shall be there to fight it.

The recent abuse to which I have been subjected by the left-wing press may be of limited interest. But in its effect it had similarities with the continuing campaign against the government—it has been almost impossible for Karamanlis to get a fair hear ing. Although he enjoys a huge majority in parliament Karamanlis now fears that the attacks by Papandreou and the press are changing the mood of the people. For this reason the government is determined to hurry through the legislation needed for entry into the EEC 'before anything happens'. Greeks vote for personalities rather than for parties, and Karamanlis has no natural successor.

In order to appease the left Karamanlis has resorted to nationalisation measures which have discouragedfurther private investment. However, the immediate prospects for Greece depend largely on America's willingness and ability to force Turkey Into a less intransigent position in the Aegean and in Cyprus. If that can be accomplished, Karamanl is's policies will bear fruit.