Saturday, October 18, 2025

Syria Update 2 - Economy

Version 1: Sat, Oct 18, 2025

Trump, MBS and Sharaa

Trump, MBS and Sharaa - May 2025. Source: SOTT.net


A small collection of articles, tip of the iceberg, about Syrian economy:

Privatizing Syria: US Plans to Sell Off a Nation’s Wealth After Assad https://www.mintpressnews.com/privatizing-syria-us-plans-to-sell-off-a-nations-wealth-after-assad/288843/ by Kit Klarenberg - Mint Prees News - Dec 17, 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/XUCfQ

Insightful article written just a week after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government. Two points of note, Klarenberg

  • draws parallel with the attack on Yugoslavia and what happened after the end of the war
  • the article links to UN reports showing that as late as 2018 Syria was performing well, but of course after a point the sanctions and the foreign intervention took over

Compare this article with what Beeley describes below to appreciate how prescient Klarenberg was last December.


Free market economy in Syria: We’ve seen this failure before: The model the new regime seeks to implement, is a standard international recipe which includes tax cuts for corporations, and privatization of public assets https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/21/free-market-economy-in-syria-weve-seen-this-failure-before/ by Mohammad Khansa - Peoples Dispatch - May 21, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/Bz7b3

Critical take on the prospects but going back to policies in the 2000s with a more straightforward economic analysis. Two excerpts

It appears that the new regime has not learned the lessons of Assad’s liberalization plan in the decade leading up to the Syrian uprising in 2011. Bashar al-Assad’s aggressive push toward a free market economy is well documented in Mohammad Jamal Barut’s book “The Last Decade in Syria’s History: The Dialectic of Stagnation and Reform.”

Barut points out that liberalization was achieved through a sweeping wave of legislative and policy reforms, known as the Decree Revolution, which saw the introduction of over 1,200 new laws between 2000 and 2005. These reforms were designed to integrate the Syrian economy into global economic flows, benefit from Syrian capital, and take advantage of the financial boom in the Gulf region.

Syrian economist Jihad Yazigi points out that following Syria’s economic liberalization in the early 2000s, private investors took the reins and dominated almost every major sector of the economy. The private sector became the driving force behind agriculture, manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, tourism, domestic transportation, and more, not to mention new opportunities in energy and finance. Barut’s book shows how tangible these results have been: The private sector’s contribution to GDP rose from 59.8% in 2000-2005 to 64.9% in 2006-2009.

It is important to note that this economic liberalization came at the expense of industrialization, favoring high-return, high-yield activities in the services sector, with the benefits going largely to the country’s wealthiest elites.

The social consequences of the liberalization model were stark. The percentage of Syrians living below the poverty line rose from 11.4% (2.04 million people) in 2004 to 12.3% (2.36 million) in 2007. Inflation surged from 10% in 2006 to 15.15% in 2008, making that year the worst of the decade.

And on the Latakia port renewal:

On May 1, Syria signed its first major investment deal with a global corporation, a €230 million, 30-year contract with France’s CMA CGM to develop and operate the Port of Latakia, the country’s main seaport.

Additional information on the CMA CGM deal:

CMA CGM expands management agreement for Syria’s Latakia box terminal: New 30-year concession includes construction of additional containership berth - Investment by CMA CGM is valued at about $260m https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1153351/CMA-CGM-expands-management-agreement-for-Syria%E2%80%99s-Latakia-box-terminal - Lloyd’s List - 2 May 2025


Syria: Prey to the Globalist Cabal and Crony Capitalist Al Qaeda Regime https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/syria-prey-to-the-globalist-cabal-and-crony-capitalist-al-qaeda-regime by Vanessa Beeley - UK Column - 14 Aug 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/u0IXP

If you read only one article on this post this is it. Beeley is a long time resident in the region and knows it intimately. Her articles https://www.ukcolumn.org/writer/vanessa-beeley and The Cradle https://thecradle.co/ are my best sources on the volving situation in the country.


Syria’s quest to build its own Silicon Valley: Tech founders in Damascus are rebooting a war-torn country https://restofworld.org/2025/syria-tech-industry/ By Emily Wither - Rest of world - 16 Sep 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/UqRdU

Reminds me of articles about ICT4D for Africa 15-20 years ago I used to believe. Since then I have come to realize that what is needed goes well beyond simple coding. Interesting to read it as an eefort ot ‘sell’ the new government despite mild criticism.


Previously:


Started: Sat, Oct 18, 2025

About Metagora

Friday, September 19, 2025

Russia Update 2

Version 2: Sat, Oct 4, 2025

Vladimir Putin and Sergey Karaganov

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to HSE University Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs Sergey Karaganov © Sputnik / Sputnik


Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin held a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council in the Kremlin http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78051 September 22, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/NzsE8

Putin on extending the New START Treaty - emphasis added:

The New START Treaty will expire on February 5, 2026, signalling the imminent end of the last international accord directly limiting nuclear missile capabilities. A complete renunciation of this treaty’s legacy would, from many points, be a grave and short-sighted mistake. It would also have adverse implications for the objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

In order to prevent the emergence of a new strategic arms race and to preserve an acceptable degree of predictability and restraint, we consider it reasonable to maintain at this turbulent time the status quo established under New START. Accordingly, Russia is prepared to continue observing the treaty’s central quantitative restrictions for one year after February 5, 2026.

Following that date, based on a careful assessment of the situation, we will make a definite decision on whether to uphold these voluntary self-limitations. We believe that this measure is only feasible if the United States acts in a similar spirit and refrains from steps that would undermine or disrupt the existing balance of deterrence.


Dmitry Medvedev

The New Finnish Doctrine: Stupidity, Lies, Ingratitude https://tass.com/politics/2014115 by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council - TASS - Sep 8, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/6Oojr

Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev finds historical parallels in the behavior of the current leaders of Finland and their predecessors from almost a century ago and recalls the aftermath of their aggressive attacks on Russia.


Sergei Karaganov

Reports just published on two themes Karaganov has been working on for some time:

Recent articles on the same topics:

Eastern Turn 2.0 https://karaganov.ru/en/eastern-turn-2-0/ by Sergei Karaganov - July 21, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/aDHVg

The previously prevalent development model – globalist imperial-liberal capitalism, has almost exhausted itself. This model, based on the endless growth of consumption, leads to the degradation of humans and humanity, and is beginning to jeopardize the planet upon which human existence depends. …

We are witnessing the birth of a new world. In many ways, we have become its midwife by ending the West’s military superiority that underpinned its 500-year-long hegemony. We are repelling what is hopefully the declining West’s final attack, an effort to strategically defeat our country in Ukraine and to reverse history. We must win this fight, even by threatening the most severe measures and, if necessary, using them. This is necessary not only for our victory, but also to prevent the world from slipping towards the Third World War.

But, I repeat, the fight with the West should not distract us from the most important constructive tasks. These include the new development of the entire east of the country. Geoeconomics, geopolitics, and the inevitable climate change of the coming decades necessitate, but also facilitate, a Siberian turn that shifts Russia’s spiritual, human, and economic center eastward.

Siberia’s lands, forests, minerals, and freshwater should become, with modern technologies and Siberians’ energy and intelligence, a driver of Eurasia’s development. So, our duty is to hold Siberia firmly, developing it for the benefit of our citizens, the country, and all humankind. At present, we mainly supply low-value-added products. The task is to create, under state regulation, nationwide full-cycle production complexes (Kryukov, 2023), and to use defense contracts to rebuild state-of-the-art Siberian manufacturing.

Federal administrative centers should also go east: ministries, legislative bodies, the headquarters of large corporations, to be followed by patriotic and, in the best sense of the word, ambitious young people. If Peter the Great lived today, he would have certainly found a new capital in Siberia and greatly expand the “window to Asia.” Apart from Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia absolutely needs a third, Siberian, capital, not least because of the military-strategic situation of the coming decades.

Europe: A Bitter Parting https://karaganov.ru/en/europe-a-bitter-parting/ by Sergei Karaganov - July 28, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/wip/Rnpss

Our relations with Europe are the worst they have been in history. The level of Russophobia and anti-Russian sentiment is unprecedented not only among European elites but also among a growing share of the masses, stupefied by all-encompassing wartime propaganda. Europe has not yet openly declared war, but participates indirectly by arming enthralled and Nazism-indoctrinated Ukrainians to fight against Russia. …

And yet the unprecedented hostility’s main reason lies deeper: the multi-spectral failure of the European elites and the impasse of the European project. Its problems began as early as the 1970s–1980s, but were temporarily obscured by the unexpected, internally triggered collapse of the USSR and socialist camp, which freed up several hundred million cheap workers and hungry consumers. China’s markets opened at the same time. But Europe’s external injection of economic and moral adrenaline began to wear off in the late 2000s. And now the bill has come due for the greedy European bourgeoisie’s admission of millions of migrants, since the 1960s, in order to lower the cost of labor and weaken trade unions. The result is a mounting and so far irresolvable migration crisis.


Energy and Rosatom

Could Small Modular Reactors Soon Power Data Centers? https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/interview/could-small-modular-reactors-soon-power-data-centers/ by Alexander Volgin and Maria Bazlutskaya - RIAC - August 25, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/HCQNO

Data centers rank among the most energy-intensive facilities in today’s infrastructure. In 2024, they accounted for 1.5% of global electricity consumption, driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. Data center electricity consumption has grown by around 12% per year since 2017, more than four times faster than the rate of total electricity consumption. This massive energy demand exposes some shortcomings of traditional energy sources such as coal, gas and large nuclear power plants (NPPs), which often struggle to deliver what modern data centers need the most: flexibility, fast scalability and environmental sustainability. Could small modular reactors (SMRs), with their fundamentally new approach to powering data centers, become a solution to this trilemma? We discussed this with Alexander Volgin, Project Director at Rosatom Energy Projects JSC.

The following is not about Russia but covers the same topic and mentions Rosatom:

Transcript of Henry Tillman: China’s Thorium Revolution – 60.000 Years of Cheap Energy https://singjupost.com/transcript-of-henry-tillman-chinas-thorium-revolution-60-000-years-of-cheap-energy/ by S. Pangambam - April 24, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/6gHAO

Henry Tillman: I think the world underestimates the power needed just to run data centers. I’ve read a piece someplace where the Amazon data center just outside of Washington D.C. would require the same amount of power as the city of Chicago—just one data center. So you’re going to have to have adequate power to run all this. …

Glenn Diesen: Well China will obviously already taking the lead. But you mentioned Rosatom, the Russian nuclear company. Russia tends to have a very leading position on nuclear energy, having a lot of the construction of new nuclear power plants around the world on their books. They have nuclear turnkey solutions—they can build the nuclear power plants, they can operate them, they can provide the fuel, they can dispose of the waste. Do you think the Russians will be able to benefit greatly from this? Are they able to transition into it or will this be a rival to their existing industries?

Henry Tillman: I think as I said before, people look at multiple different ways of approaching this. Thorium might be a piece of it, uranium might be a piece of it. But I’ll pick up your point which is an excellent one. In Zimbabwe in the last year, Rosatom made a proposal to mine uranium, build the power plant, work on the data center, deal with all the mining and also deal with the manufacturing. Comprehensive list of what it can do for the government. Turnkey list of what it can do. And that’s the skill set Rosatom has built. Very powerful for many countries across Africa.

In fact, they’re talking about now building a manufacturing plant in Guinea. So I think Russia is doing quite well. That’s a commercial business with, as I say, I think it’s $20 billion market cap with the markets today, who knows. But a sizable company and profitable. So they’re doing quite well. So I think it’s complementary because a lot of that’s going to be offshore and a lot of that’s diversified revenues across businesses is where Rosatom’s built.

Reactor for Scientific Breakthroughs https://rosatomnewsletter.com/2025/09/22/reactor-for-scientific-breakthroughs/ Rosatom newsletter #293 September 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/qhWSK

An unparalleled multi-purpose fast-neutron research reactor (abbreviated MBIR) is under construction in Russia. Its experimental and technological capabilities will expand research into closed nuclear fuel cycle technology, enable material studies and other tests. An international consortium is being established, whose members will gain access to experiments on MBIR. China is considering the possibility of joining the consortium.

MBIR is the largest research reactor currently under construction in the world. It is being built in Dimitrovgrad at the site of the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR, part of Rosatom’s research division). MBIR has 150 MW of thermal power and 55 MW of electric power—exceptionally high figures for a research reactor.

Russia and Ethiopia Sign Action Plan to Advance Nuclear Power Plant Project https://rosatomafrica.com/en/press-centre/news/russia-and-ethiopia-sign-action-plan-to-advance-nuclear-power-plant-project/ Rosatom Africa - 25 September, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/BMinL

Building Africa’s Nuclear Energy Network: Rosatom’s Expanding Footprint https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/06/20/building-africas-nuclear-energy-network-rosatoms-expanding-footprint/ By Kester Kenn Klomegah - Modern Diplomacy - June 20, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/sS45H - In this interview, Ryan Collyer, CEO of Rosatom Central and Southern Africa, explains significant aspects of adopting and step-by-step procedures for building nuclear power plants.


Previously:


Additional information

Explainer: What is Putin proposing to Trump on nuclear weapons? https://www.reuters.com/world/why-is-putin-talking-about-new-nuclear-weapons-treaty-with-us-2025-09-22/ By Mark Trevelyan - Reuters - September 22, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/wdJgk

Thirsty for power and water, AI-crunching data centers sprout across the West: With promises of jobs and hopes for tax breaks, server farms are reshaping local grids, plumbing, and politics. Are they a boon for communities, or a burden? https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/thirsty-for-power-and-water-ai-crunching-data-centers-sprout-across-the-west/ By Felicity Barringer - Stanford University - April 8, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/oBIIo

Ethiopia, Niger plan to build nuclear plants with Russia’s Rosatom https://www.africanews.com/2025/09/26/ethiopia-niger-plan-to-build-nuclear-plants-with-russias-rosatom// Africa News 25 September 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/LSpXf

The importance of Iran in the new Asian energy architecture https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/09/23/the-importance-of-iran-in-the-new-asian-energy-architecture/ by Lorenzo Maria Pacini - Strategic Culture Foundation - September 23, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/QZAfi

The agreement calls for Rosatom to build at least eight new nuclear reactors in Iran, with a project largely based on the 25-year Russian-Iranian Strategic Pact approved by the Tehran parliament on May 21, to be financed by Moscow and providing over 10 gigawatts of energy. According to current plans, Iran aims to increase its nuclear capacity to 20,000 megawatts (or 20 GW) by 2041.


Started: Fri, Sep 19, 2025

About Metagora

Friday, September 12, 2025

File: Techno

Version 1: Fri, Sep 12, 2025


Transhumanism - 1

Image source: igyaan.in


Links for techno-futurism, techno-utopia, transhumanism, etc

(Andrade) - René Girard (1923—2015) https://iep.utm.edu/girard/ by Gabriel Andrade, University of Zulia, Venezuela - Archive https://archive.ph/bgK1g

French-America philosopher that has allegedly influenced Thiel.

(Kofman 2025) - Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America: The reactionary blogger’s call for a monarch to rule the country once seemed like a joke. Now the right is ready to bend the knee https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/curtis-yarvin-profile By Ava Kofman - Th New Yorker - June 2, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/nDy9J

Yarvin wants to destroy democracy. Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and J. D. Vance are among his fans.

(Broze 2025) - Meet The Man Whose Philosophy Has Influenced Peter Thiel And The Technocrats: By gaining a deeper understanding of the philosophy behind Peter Thiel, we can learn where the second Trump administration is headed https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/influences-modern-technocrat/ by Derrick Broze - The Last American Vagabond - Feb 20, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/cHJDH

(Kavoussi 2024) - Peter Thiel Returns to San Francisco To Make the Intellectual Case for Christianity https://medium.com/@bonniekavoussi/peter-thiel-returns-to-san-francisco-to-make-the-intellectual-case-for-christianity-9f90da7b7e8d by Bonnie Kavoussi - Jun 27, 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/CzP7O

(Simon 2025) - What We Must Understand About the Dark Enlightenment Movement https://time.com/7269166/dark-enlightenment-history-essay/ by Ed Simon - Time - Mar 24, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/ULEhd

(LaFrance 2024) - The Rise Of Techno-Authoritarianism: Silicon Valley has its own ascendant political ideology. It’s past time we call it what it is https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/03/facebook-meta-silicon-valley-politics/677168/ By Adrienne LaFrance - The Atlantic - Jan 30, 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/zmA4j


Started: Fri, Sep 12, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Athens Dispatch - Corruption Galore!

Version 1: Sat, Sep 6 2025

Flag of Greece
By Unknown - ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ, Public Domain, Link

Source: Wikimedia

My collection of recent corruption news stories from Greece:

Money Laundering via Betting

Public servants and Ministry directors “laundered” money through betting companies – Bets Up to €1 million; Over 200 people targeted by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue: The Authority has identified these 200 persons and has already started the audit, comparing their tax returns with the large sums they were gambling https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/03/public-servants-and-ministry-directors-laundered-money-through-betting-companies-bets-up-to-e1-illion-over-200-people-targeted-by-the-independent-authority-for-public-rev/ - Proto Thema - Sep 3 - Archive https://archive.ph/sz0dg

The chairman of the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority, former Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Charalampos Vourliotis, has shut down the channels used to launder illicit funds through betting companies that operate legally but were being used to clean large amounts of dirty money.

Each gambler reportedly played and transferred amounts ranging from €100 up to €1,000,000. Among them were high-ranking public officials, including directors of ministries and public services, who could not justify the large sums they gambled through legal betting companies in sports betting.

This is potentially the most interesting recent case of corruption because the people involved are very well off, and with important state jobs. The Greek police should investigate their connections, school and colleges they went, whether they play golf and tennis together, as well as whether they are members of social clubs of ‘philathropic’ nature.

Fuel Smuggling

Greek authorities uncover cross-border fuel fraud scheme https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/04/fuel-smuggling-ring-over-e3-million-in-profits-they-had-tampered-with-the-pumps/ - Proto Thema - Sep 4 - Archive https://archive.ph/V8qZn

Members of a fuel smuggling ring, dismantled by Greek authorities, managed to pocket more than €3,000,000 through their operations.

… At the top was a leadership core headed by a 38-year-old man, who notably shares the same surname as a member of the Greek Mafia who was murdered several years ago.

The network had bases in areas of Attica, Trikala, and Thessaloniki, with connections to unknown individuals in Poland, Bulgaria, and Albania. They imported solvents, adulterated fuels, tampered with pumps, and sold marine diesel to consumers seeking heating oil without receipts.

Organised Agricultural Subsidy Fraud and Corruption

Greece: The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) probes OPEKEPE officials over alleged organised agricultural subsidy fraud and corruption https://www.eppo.europa.eu/en/media/news/greece-eppo-probes-opekepe-officials-over-alleged-organised-agricultural-subsidy-fraud - European Public Prosecutor’s Office - 20 May 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/Kap3z

Between 2019 and 2022, a significant number of individuals presented themselves as young or new farmers and obtained payment entitlements from the national reserve, funded by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), based on false declarations. These included misrepresentations about the ownership or lease of pasture lands eligible for subsidies, giving the false appearance of active farming activities.

In most cases, the pastures declared were in fact public lands, previously allocated only for use by livestock breeders who lacked private agricultural land. These pastures were often located far away from the actual place of residence of the individuals claiming to own or lease them.

In the following years, up to 2024, the same individuals continued to submit false declarations of livestock, enabling them to be allocated public grazing land, which was then used to activate and maintain their payment entitlements.

Such illegal practice may have been organised in a systematic manner with the involvement of members of the Board of Directors and officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).

This started because of EU investigation not Greek government involvement. The government was forced to investigate and they control the pace of the announcement. Although the goverment is all about new tech including AI this could have been detected with simple database search, assuming they did not know about it at all which is the issue.

The Cretan Mafia

At least 48 people have been arrested involved mainly in drugs, guns trafficking. Also a curious case blackmailing a church figure resulting in the sale of choice piece of land to an Israeli fund.

Mafia in Crete: Money laundering – How the property of the Holy Monastery of Agia Triada was stolen https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/02/mafia-in-crete-money-laundering-how-the-property-of-the-holy-monastery-of-agia-triada-was-stolen/ Archive https://archive.ph/rjdrN

Crete Mafia Scandal: Zorba’s Land Sold for Pennies https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/09/02/crete-mafia-scandal-zorbas-land-sold-for-pennies/ by Bill Giannopoulos - Greek City Times - Sep 2 - Archive https://archive.ph/7bVag

The mafia boss reportedly received 175 acres of prime coastal land as a payoff—land located right where the iconic 1964 film Zorba the Greek, starring Anthony Quinn, was shot.

My comment

Every year we have the Thessaloniki International Fair in which the prime minister announces economic policy changes including social benefits increases.

  • The 89th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) will be a unique celebration for everyone, as it coincides with the 100th anniversary of the organization’s establishment in 1925 https://thessalonikifair.gr/en

The recent corruption news were timed to build up the PM’s appearance and neutralize the OPEKEPE scandal.

I maintain that the scandals in this country can be a source of inspiration for the film industry as in my previous post LLM: Make me a story!


Started: Sat, Sep 6 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, August 2, 2025

LLM: Destabilization of Denmark

Christiansborg (Matthias Schalk).jpg
By Matthias Schalk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Christiansborg Palace houses the Folketing, the Supreme Court, and government offices - Wikimedia

Given Trump’s statements about Greenland is it possible he will attempt to destabilize Denmark?

Various LLMs were asked to act as advisors to the Danish government and help them prepare for possible US destabilization efforts by identifying weak spots in social etc issues.

Needless to say this is an intellectual exercise not a viable option.

Due to document size you can read the responses on Google Drive: Destabilization of Denmark - PDF 21 pages.

Feedback will be appreciated!


Started: Sat, Aug 2, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, July 26, 2025

Russia Update

Version 1: Fri, July 25, 2025

HSE University.jpg
By JamesSmith.HSE - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

One of the HSE University main buidings, located in Moscow on Myasnitskaya Street - Wikimedia


Newly read articles that will be added to our File: Russia https://metagora.blogspot.com/2024/03/file-russia.html page in due time.


Sergei Karaganov

Professor Sergei Karaganov gave three interviews with Tariq Marzbaan and Nora Hoppe at Al Mayadeen http://english.almayadeen.net discussing the developments in Russia and the world:

Recent commentary:

Sergey Karaganov: Russia must not fall into Trump’s ‘honey trap’ - Western Europe might be led by ‘pygmies,’ but the Americans are smarter operators, the political scientist believes http://rt.com/russia/614051-sergey-karaganov-russia-trump - RT - 11 Mar, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/xgfxY


Dmitri Trenin

From Restraining To Deterring: Nuclear Weapons, Geopolitics, Coalition Strategy https://karaganov.ru/en/from-restraining-to-deterring/ by Dmitri V. Trenin, Sergei I. Avakyants and Sergei A. Karaganov - PDF 96 pages - Archive https://archive.ph/R0UpC

Why 2025 is going to be more dangerous than you think https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/why-2025-is-going-to-be-more-dangerous-than-you-think/ by Dmitri Trenin - RIAC - Jan 20, 2025- Archive https://archive.ph/wo3aD

World War III has already begun https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/world-war-iii-has-already-begun/ by Dmitry Trenin - RIAC - July 16, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/FIxfC


Gennady Gatilov

Statement by Ambassador Gennady Gatilov at the Conference on Disarmament (Escalation of the Israel-Iran Conflict) https://geneva.mid.ru/en/activities/news/statement_by_ambassador_gennady_gatilov_at_the_conference_on_disarmament_escalation_of_the_israel_ir/ - June 17, 2025, Geneva - Archive https://archive.ph/XiOMF


Timofey Bordachev

Enslaved: Here’s how the US made Western Europe its puppet - From powerhouse to pawn, the region has slowly descended under American rule https://www.rt.com/news/612715-us-made-europe-its-puppet/ By Timofey Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club - Archive https://archive.ph/bYdi7


Andrey Kortunov

US-Russia Grand Bargain Without Europe - Andrey Kortunov, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGr5PyYdKoI ~65 min - Kortunov is the former Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC)


Olga Butorina

Dr. of Science (Economics), Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director for scientific work, RAS Institute of Europe, RIAC Member

The Draghi report interrupts the EU silent “family dinner” https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/the-draghi-report-interrupts-the-eu-silent-family-dinner/ by Olga Butorina - RIAC - Oct 11, 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/C74YO

(Great follow up reading: The European Green Deal Has Failed https://compactmag.com/article/the-european-green-deal-has-failed/ by Thomas Fazi - Compact Magazine - Jul 07, 2025 - (@battleforeurope @compactmag_) - Archive https://archive.ph/MGbVU)


Anastasia Tolstukhina

Head of the Tech Policy Program at the Russian International Affairs Council

US Semiconductor Reindustrialization: Implications for the World https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/us-semiconductor-reindustrialization-implications-for-the-world/ by Anastasia Tolstukhina - RIAC - Jul 9, 2025 - (@Russian_Council) - Archive https://archive.ph/7MChW


Started: Fri, July 25, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Israel's nuclear weapons

Version 2: Sat, Jul 12, 2025

Mordechai Vanunu, 2005 (cropped).JPG
By Ali kazak 9 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Mordechai Vanunu, Israel whistleblower and activist - Wikimedia.

Avid listener and all that, but I do not remember ever the Greek radio mentioning the Israeli nuclear weapons program until a few days ago. It went something like this on ΕΡΤ (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση)

Journo: What else can Israel do?

Expert: Of course they have nuclear weapons…

And that was that, and he continued with cyberwar etc. On July 2 (or 3) another expert appeared on the same station

Journo 2: Iran can close the Strait of Hormuz

Military Expert: Israel can use the Samson Option and attack everybody

Again nothing followed in terns of context. When did the got the nukes? how did they get the nukes?

The point is the moment we realize Israel is the one holding the ultimate weapon the Iranian afforts should be seen in a different light. The claims made by numerous Greek commentators that with Israel we have a strategic alliance should be rejected because how can we trust our supposedly allies when they have lied to so many others? Time to reorient Greek foreign policy away from Israel.


For those puzzled about the Israeli nuclear weapons capabilities, here are a few links:

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation - https://armscontrolcenter.org/ (@nukes_of_hazard)

  • Fact Sheet: Israel’s Nuclear Inventory https://armscontrolcenter.org/fact-sheet-israels-nuclear-arsenal/ - PDF 2 pages
  • Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though the country neither acknowledges nor denies the existence of a nuclear arsenal. Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not accepted IAEA safeguards on some of its principle nuclear activities. Their policy of nuclear opacity has been generally tolerated by both allies and adversaries.

Hidden history: How ‘Israel’ acquired nukes: Kit Klarenberg exposes the Zionist entity’s nuclear weapons program and its dark, concealed history, one that continues to fuel global instability while escaping scrutiny https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/hidden-history--how--israel--acquired-nukes by Kit Klarenberg - 13 Jun 2025 - (@MayadeenEnglish)

The war game: David Hirst’s account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, The Gun and the Olive Branch, caused a storm 25 years ago. In this edited extract from his new and updated edition he offers a personal and highly controversial view of the current crisis in the Middle East https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/21/israelandthepalestinians.bookextracts - 21 Sep 2003

Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: “Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.” I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under.’

The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy - by Seymour M. Hersh (Random House 1991) https://ia800205.us.archive.org/32/items/Sampson_Option/Sampson_Option_text.pdf PDF 366 pages

The Unspoken Kennedy Truth https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-unspoken-kennedy-truth-laurent-guy-not/1145962497?ean=9782957170418 by Laurent Guyénot (2021)

Israel And The Assassinations Of The Kennedy Brothers https://archive.org/details/israel-and-the-assassinations-of-the-kennedy-brothers_202404 Documentary by Laurent Guyénot - 86 minutes.

A Warning From History https://amazon.com/Warning-History-Cory-Hughes/dp/B0CL14VQY6 by Cory Hughes (Draft2Digital 2023)


Started: Sat, Jul 28, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Hollywood and the Houthis

Version 2: Sat, Jun 7, 2025

Reacher

Reacher was developed by Nick Santora. Santora is undoubtedly a very creative guy with credits going back to The Sopranos. But he has done shows such as FBI and Law and Order, and FUBAR, so Reacher is no surprise.

The series in a jiffy: retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher travels around the US confronting criminals. He has no property except his clothes. He gets help from some of the members of his old team.

There are three main villains in the third season:

  • Russian mafia - providing weapons, explosives, etc
  • Yemeni terrorists planning attacks in the US
  • Quinn, a devious Asian guy, intermediary between Russians and Yemenis

Russian mafia types and Asian criminals are not new in American TV, what is new are the Yemeni terrorists. What it is meant here is the Ansar Allah movement usually referred to as the Houthis by the western press. By using the name of one of the tribes involved and not the movement lessens the significance of their effort. Using ‘Yemenis’ in the show hides the issue under one more layer of mystification for what for the western press is an Iran proxy, as opposed to a liberation movement.

Their leader is planning to do some terrorizing but even before the deal is sealed, he wants to have a good time with his special preference a redhead who incidentally happens to be drugged. Needless to say the good guys (and gal) save the day. Reacher rides his bike towards the sunset. Two points of interest:

  • The series manages to have three geopolitical threats weaved in one narrative even obliquely: Russia, Iran and China
  • Reacher acts alone, with a bit of help from old friends. An old theme in Hollywood to have a hero with no formal organization.

Reacher acts as a defender of the country against the three threats from overseas, against a mini invasion. Defending a country from invasion is an old theme (Dodds 2014)

The invasion novel was a historical genre which gained considerable popularity between the 1870s and 1914. … By 1914, over 400 books had been published about hypothetical invasions by overseas powers. Their popularity owes a great deal to the contemporary zeitgeist associated with Anglo-German rivalries, rearmament, and imperial competition in Africa and the Mediterranean. Public fears about ‘foreigners’ and German spy networks grew accordingly.

Reacher comes from this tradition, but there are more ways to do propaganda and (McMaken 2025) covers British influence on US and beyond, including going beyond fiction to actually constructing news and events. We are into the realm of fake news and false flags.

We have come a long way from Reacher so one last comment: consider comparing McMaken and the propaganda about the Belgian atrocities of 1914 and the propaganda about October 7: (Winstanley 2024) and (Yusuf 2024); and the British propaganda with Intrepid against the ‘Isolationists’ before WW2 and the more recent ‘Steele Dossier’ affair (Mate 2021) and (Sperry 2022). History seems to repeat itself.


References and Additional Information

(Dodds 2014) Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction by Klaus Dodds, Oxford University Press, 2e, 2014

Klaus Dodds (@klausdodds) “Professor Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics and Executive Dean for the School of Life Sciences and Environment at Royal Holloway, and University lead for environmental sustainability.”

(McMaken 2025) How War Propaganda Has Fueled American Foreign Policy for a Century https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-war-propaganda-has-fueled-american-foreign-policy-century by Ryan McMaken - Mises Wire - May 15, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/B8JkI

Ryan McMaken (@ryanmcmaken) is executive editor at the Mises Institute.

(Winstanley 2024) How Israel killed hundreds of its own people on 7 October https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-israel-killed-hundreds-its-own-people-7-october/49216 by Asa Winstanley - The Electronic Intifada (@intifada) - 7 October 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/jw5l6

(Yusuf 2024) ‘Beheaded Babies’ – How UK Media Reported Israel’s Fake News As Fact: Britain’s national press have been indispensable allies of Israel throughout its brutal war on Gaza https://www.declassifieduk.org/beheaded-babies-how-uk-media-reported-israels-fake-news-as-fact/ by Hamza Yusuf - 4 January 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/9qWKE

(Mate 2021) The Rise and Fall of the ‘Steele Dossier’: A case study in mass hysteria and media credulity by Aaron Maté - The Nation - January 11, 2021 - Archive https://archive.ph/5Hk2b

(Sperry 2022) How the FBI Copied Parts of the Debunked Steele Dossier Directly Into Its Spy Requests By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations - December 20, 2022 - Archive https://archive.ph/Z5tbh


Started: Fri, Jun 6, 2025

About Metagora

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

UK Security - Update - 8.1e

Version 8.1: Tue, May 6, 2025

The links here will eventually be merged with out previous efforts in a pdf document hopefully:

King’s College London

People associated with King’s College London, who have clearly western globalist positions and views.

Karim Haggag

SIPRI’s ongoing decay from peace to mainstream military security – its new director: Naturally, nobody cares about that fraud in today’s Sweden https://thetransnational.substack.com/p/sipris-ongoing-decay-from-peace-to By Jan Oberg - Transnational Foundation, April 16, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/J0hyF

To continue the decay and get even further away from anything called peace, SIPRI has just appointed a new director. His name is Karim Haggag, and you can read about this Egyptian career diplomat and his role at the The American University in Cairo here – a servant, one can safely assume, of US military interests with close relations to hawkish people like Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger of the Albright Stonebridge Group – that, by the way, goes unmentioned in SIPRI’s official announcement about him here.

In case you want to know more about Madeleine Albright, she served as Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, masterminded the fake negotiation at Rambouillet about Kosovo with the NATO bombings that followed and thought, as she stated it, it was acceptable to kill half a million Iraqi women and children by the US economic sanctions.

Haggag holds only a master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College, London, and has served as a career diplomat most of his life, in Washington. Here is his official CV at the American University Cairo - https://archive.ph/Gq5EB – which indicates two selected publications ten years ago and his academic interests in “security.” Nothing indicates any knowledge, experience or interest in the academic discipline of peace and conflict research.

In short, surely the right mainstream man for the former peace research institute SIPRI, in the year 2025.

Emmanuel (Manos) Karagiannis

Emmanuel Karagiannis, Reader in International Security, King’s College London https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/karagiannis-dr-emmanuel

Frequently asked by Greek media to comment on international affairs. He has a consistent pro-western stance lacking critical spirit. It seems the concept of ‘western imperialism’ has passed him by. One popular radio personality here introduced him recently with something along the line: “the British establishment trust him to teach their students”. Of course they do.

Karagiannis holds two PhDs, the first in Theology and Religious Studies and the second in post-Soviet Politics. Here is an excerpt of a recent interview of retired Greek diplomat Vasilios Bornovas about Ukraine (Google translation):

I must point out here that Autocephaly led to conflicts within the flock, to the violent seizure of church property by the Ukrainian police, to the expulsion of priests and archpriests, and to the emergence of a new Church that was apparently created to serve multiple roles:

The efforts to promote and consolidate this new Church were largely supported by USAID through the organization of numerous events, rental of advertising banners, and radio and television time.

This the kind of issue Karagiannis avoids. Here is another example involving Zionism and foreign policy. Foreign policy justified in terms of a sacred text?

Netanyahu and his map of "The New Middle East"

Netanyahu Shows Map of ‘New Middle East’—Without Palestine—to UN General Assembly - Source: commondreams.org

To be fair to Karagiannis, Greek journalists are not well educated or informed so their questioning reflects that, but then it is his responsibility to take the lead and show the extent of the issues involved.


Information Warfare, Disinformation, Propaganda

Gaza

‘National Scandal’: The BBC’s Gaza Cover-up - Britain’s ‘public service broadcaster’ is keeping the public in the dark about UK support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, new research finds https://www.declassifieduk.org/national-scandal-the-bbcs-gaza-cover-up/ by Mark Curtis - Jan 15, 2025 - Declassified UK - Archive https://archive.ph/77zr9

There are no headlines about the possible use of UK arms by Israel in Gaza, or any directly reflecting the repeated calls by groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to halt all UK arms exports and military assistance to Israel.

The prominent legal action against the government for arming Israel brought by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), the Global Legal Action Network and Al-Haq, has been ignored by the BBC. Declassified could find no BBC written coverage of this at all.

Israel-Palestine war: Legal centre seeks to prosecute UK for Israeli ‘war crimes’ complicity - International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, co-chaired by Conservative MP, says Britain aiding path to war crimes in Gaza https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-legal-centre-prosecute-uk-complicity-war-crimes - 14 Oct 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/BW3Rz

USAID funding of BBC Media Action

We have here a case of the ‘special relationship’ between UK and USA. Funding from US, propaganda from BBC which then gets off as charity.

Official BBC Media Action statement https://www.bbc.com/mediaaction/press-release/4-feb-25 - 4 Feb 2025:

Like many international development organisations, BBC Media Action has been affected by the temporary pause in US government funding, which amounts to about 8% of our income in 2023-24. We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our partners and the people we serve.

As the BBC’s international charity, we are completely separate from BBC News, and wholly reliant on our donors and supporters to carry out our work.

Why USAID’s funding of BBC is more than a red flag: USAID’s controversial funding of BBC Media Action highlights how the Western government-funded propaganda machinery works and exposes double standards in global broadcasting https://trtafrika.com/insight/why-usaids-funding-of-bbc-is-more-than-a-red-flag-18267007 By Mazhun Idris - 20 Feb 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/CBj6W

Spinning public opinion is effectively done through cherry-picking facts, as by selective shaping of narratives, stripping contexts, framing debates, stoking outrage, manufacturing sentiment, silencing or censoring.

In the modern era of media weaponisation, misinformation doesn’t have to be about outright lies that malign.

Disinformation is as powerful a tool as biased emphasis or orchestrated repetition of selective facts or viewpoints.

As experts on international development point out, initiatives under the terms of aid or charity have long been used to obscure covert intelligence projects, all of which are aimed at manipulating targeted beneficiary communities towards predetermined objectives and conclusions.


Harassment of Journalists and Academics

John Pilger

The UK government covertly plotted to discredit John Pilger: The legendary foreign correspondent who has died at the age of 84 was monitored and targeted by a covert British propaganda unit, declassified files show https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-uk-government-covertly-plotted-to-discredit-john-pilger/ by John McEvoy - 8 January 2024

In 1975, the Foreign Office’s secret cold war propaganda unit, the Information Research Department (IRD), opened a file on Pilger. Though the IRD was shut down in 1977, Pilger’s file was transferred to its successor organisation, the Special Production Unit (SPU), and the Foreign Office continued to track his movements over the following years.

Richard Sakwa

British intel sought to silence West’s top Russia academic, leaks reveal https://thegrayzone.com/2025/04/01/british-intel-top-russia-academic-leaks/ by Kit Klarenberg - The Grayzone - April 1, 2025 - Archive: https://archive.ph/CipLa

Leaked emails reviewed by The Grayzone reveal a high-level British intelligence plot to smear and silence British political scientists such as Richard Sakwa, who is widely regarded as one of the English-speaking world’s foremost authorities on Russia.

In a March 2022 email entitled “Russians in our Universities,” British military intelligence officer and former senior NATO advisor Chris Donnelly accused Sakwa of being a Russian “fellow traveller” who’d been “gradually breaking cover,” insisting the professor was “far too well-informed about Russian strategy to be called just ‘a useful idiot.’” Another email reveals Donnelly fantasizing about publicly exposing the Sakwa for being “funded by Russian entities” – a claim the professor strenuously denies.

Kit Klarenberg

British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone https://thegrayzone.com/2023/05/30/journalist-kit-klarenberg-british-police-interrogated-grayzone/ by Max Blumenthal - The Grayzone - May 30, 2023 - Archive: https://archive.ph/enEWd

UK police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg over ‘political views’: The Cradle contributor was questioned for five hours by counter-terrorism police over his journalistic work and political opinions https://thecradle.co/articles-id/267 - The Cradle - May 31, 2023 - Archive: https://archive.ph/CK7Rx


Countries of Operation

Jordan

Docs reveal how British intelligence controls Jordan’s media: UK contractors sought to create a covert newsroom to strategically flood Jordan’s mainstream and social media with a stream of self-serving propaganda https://thecradle.co/articles/docs-reveal-how-british-intelligence-controls-jordans-media by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - Jun 5, 2023

These papers show that under the aegis of countering ISIS propaganda, London sought to install operatives within Jordan’s Strategic Communications Unit (JSU) – a Jordanian entity “composed of representatives from a variety of different GoJ departments and institutions, which of course includes the RHC (royal court), but also the Ministry of Information, Jordanian Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior and the Public Security Directorate.”

These operatives would create a dedicated “covert newsroom” to publish a relentless flow of “unattributable” multimedia content extolling “patriotic national narratives” and anti-extremist messaging. This output would then be amplified, whether wittingly or unwittingly, by local and regional news outlets.

British intelligence cutout Albany Associates submitted a detailed pitch for the half a million pound project, which London was keen to complete by the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

Palestine

The UK’s secret control of Palestinian security forces: Leaks reveal that the increasingly violent and repressive Palestinian Authority security forces have been trained by British government-affiliated contractors with US money https://thecradle.co/articles/the-uks-secret-control-of-palestinian-security-forces by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - May 11, 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/uYWih

Other leaked files demonstrate that the training and services provided by Adam Smith International to the PA Security Forces are distinctly British in character.

A self-professed “highlight” of this support has been the establishment of a “Palestinian Officers Academy” styled on Sandhurst military school, where the British Army’s elite class are trained. Adam Smith International boasts that it drafted the “business case” for the Academy, cleared “design and development plans” with the Security Forces and Interior Ministry, and secured “a multi-million-pound budget” for its launch and operation.

Students at the Academy receive a nine-month-long “practical leadership curriculum” with “over 1,700 lesson plans” in English and Arabic, overseen by 12 international and 30 Palestinian staffers. Adam Smith International also advised the PA’s military training director “on how to strengthen the design and delivery of training” across the Security Forces, advising on “course design, delivery methodology, organizational structure, as well various training-related operational matters, such as resourcing, course coordination and management of training infrastructure.”

Somaliland

The Horn of Africa-The Cradle

Image source: The Cradle

Sights set on Somaliland: The threat of a total US–UK–Israeli takeover: As Tel Aviv and Washington quietly court Somaliland as a destination for Gaza’s displaced, this British-controlled enclave on the Red Sea emerges as both a strategic imperial launchpad and a potential open-air prison for Palestinians – armed, trained, and surveilled by London https://thecradle.co/articles/sights-set-on-somaliland-the-threat-of-a-total-us-uk-israeli-takeover by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - Apr 2, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/etNZM

UK - Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Somaliland (Somalia) Programme https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-3-CSSF-03-000012/summary

Private Military Companies (PMC)

Aktis

Expert Fallacy – The Implosion of Aktis Strategy and the Unmitigated Risk of Corrupt Foreigners in Somaliland https://somalilandchronicle.com/2019/04/23/expert-fallacy-the-implosion-of-aktis-strategy-and-the-unmitigated-risk-of-corrupt-foreigners-in-somaliland/ - Apr 23, 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/rkNwM

Albany Associates

Albany Associates https://www.albanyassociates.com/ - Official site

Involved both in Somaliland and Jordan.

Adam Smith International (ASI)

Adam Smith International (ASI) https://adamsmithinternational.com/

Involved both in Somaliland and Palestine.

Group 4 Securitas (G4S)

Outsourcing war: British mercenaries now run America’s front lines: G4S’s mercenaries are everywhere – from the halls of American power to the darkest corners of detention centers https://www.rt.com/news/616326-outsourcing-war-british-mercenaries/ - RT - Apr 25, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/L6u2V

The British-American private military company Group 4 Securitas (G4S) has evolved far beyond its original mission of providing security for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Today, it resembles a quasi-state, complete with its own armed forces, prison systems, and global reach. G4S secures US embassies around the world, guards airports, government agencies, and military installations for both Washington and London, and even monitors sections of the US border.

Following the targeted killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Iranian investigators accused G4S of providing intel to the Pentagon regarding his location prior to the drone strike. At the time, G4S was contracted to protect Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport.


Additional Resources and Notes

Bornovas Interview - Part 2 https://hellasjournal.com/2025/02/o-presvis-e-t-vasileios-bornovas-presvis-tis-elladas-sto-kievo-apokleistika-ki-ef-olis-tis-ylis-sti-hellas-journal-stin-triti-epeteio-tou-polemou-stin-oukrania-v-meros/ - Archive https://archive.ph/FE4Go

Very important interview in which a seasoned diplomat criticizes aspects of Greek foreign policy, and his account what is going on in Ukraine goes against the MSM narrative.

LLM: From the River to the River https://metagora.blogspot.com/2024/12/llm-from-river-to-river.html - Our modest effort to shed some light on the issue.


Started: Tue, May 6, 2025

About Metagora

Friday, April 18, 2025

Syria Update

New articles that will be added to our File: Syria in Transition https://metagora.blogspot.com/2025/01/file-syria-in-transition.html page:

Syrian Civil War map. This map cites https://syria.liveuamap.com/ Do not modify it without citing any sources.

Syrian Civil War map - Date unknown - Ermanarich, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Israel and Syria

Future of the IDF: Nagel Commission issues report on transforming military Its mandate did not include anything relating to probing the Oct. 7 failure, rather only a forward-looking view to preparing the IDF for the future https://www.jpost.com/author/yonah-jeremy-bob By Jonah Jeremy Bob - Jan 6, 2025

Potential of the Turkish Threat – Direct and Indirect – to Israel; A Situation Assessment https://israel-alma.org/potential-of-the-turkish-threat-direct-and-indirect-to-israel-a-situation-assessment/ Israeli researcher Yaakov Lappin takes a close look at Turkish missile and UAV tech and their geopolitical implications - Alma Research & Education Center - Feb 11, 2025

However, in recent years, a significant change has taken place in the regional environment: Turkey’s military capability – especially in the fields of missiles and UAVs – is on the rise. In parallel, a new horizon of influence, both direct and through proxies, has opened for Turkey in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime and the removal of the Iranian – Shiite rival axis from Syria.

Former head of Israeli military intelligence welcomes ‘chaos’ in Syria: Tamir Hayman said infighting between Syrian factions was beneficial, but added Israel must remain silent on the matter https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/former-head-israeli-military-intelligence-welcomes-chaos-syria By Mera Aladam - Middle East Eye - 13 March 2025

David’s Corridor

The battle between ‘Greater Israel’ and “Neo-Ottomanism” in Syria: As Israel escalates its warnings about Turkiye’s hegemonic ambitions and military influence in Syria, a once-strategic partnership is unraveling into a deep rivalry that could reshape the region https://thecradle.co/articles/the-battle-between-greater-israel-and-neo-ottomanism-in-syria by Mohamad Hasan Sweidan - The Cradle - Mar 20, 2025

David’s Corridor: Israel’s shadow project to redraw the Levant - Through ‘David’s Corridor,’ Israel aims to forge a geopolitical artery stretching from occupied Golan to Iraqi Kurdistan, reshaping West Asia under the guise of fostering minority alliances and realizing biblical claims https://thecradle.co/articles/davids-corridor-israels-shadow-project-to-redraw-the-levant by Mahdi Yaghi - The Cradle - Apr 4, 2025

Russia and Syria

The President of Russia sent a message to Head of the Syrian State Ahmed al-Sharaa http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76489 - Mar 20, 2025

Vladimir Putin sent a message to Head of the Syrian State Ahmed al-Sharaa, expressing support for the efforts made to stabilise the situation in the country as soon as possible in the name of ensuring its sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity

The President reiterated Russia’s continued willingness to develop practical cooperation with the Syrian authorities across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations in order to further strengthen the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and Syria.

Saturday, April 12, 2025

File: Panama, Paradise, Pandora

Version 1: Fri, Apr 11, 2025

Introduction

Note, ICIJ was involved in all three releases, while Süddeutsche Zeitung only in the first two.

Süddeutsche Zeitung https://www.sueddeutsche.de/ (German)

The Süddeutsche Zeitung published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. It is considered one of Germany’s newspapers of record. - Wikipedia

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists https://www.icij.org/ 1730 Rhode Island Ave NW, Suite 317, Washington, D.C. 20036 USA. Donors include:

  • U.S. State Department (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor)
  • National Endowment for Democracy
  • Open Society Foundations

Not clear whether at the time of the releases they were the same funders. Archive https://archive.ph/iEV2f


Panama Papers (2016)

Panama Papers Source Offers Documents To Governments, Hints At More To Come https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/20160506-john-doe-statement/ By ICIJ - May 6, 2016

In a statement issued to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the so-called “John Doe” behind the biggest information leak in history cites the need for better whistleblower protection and has hinted at even more revelations to come.

Titled The Revolution Will Be Digitized the 1800-word statement gives justification for the leak, saying that “income inequality is one of the defining issues of our time” and says that government authorities need to do more to address it.

Süddeutsche Zeitung has authenticated that the statement came from the Panama Papers source.

Panama Papers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers - Wikipedia

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, the former Panamanian offshore law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and compiled with similar leaks into a searchable database.

Panama Papers trial concludes with all defendants acquitted of money laundering https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/panama-papers-trial-concludes-with-all-defendants-absolved-of-money-laundering-charge/ By Carmen Molina Acosta - June 28, 2024

Panama’s courts closed out the high-profile Panama Papers trial Friday, with judge Baloisa Marquínez acquitting all 28 people who faced trial over their alleged role in setting up shell companies used in bribery and corruption scandals in Brazil and Germany.


Paradise Papers (2017)

Offshore Trove Exposes Trump-Russia links and Piggy Banks of the Wealthiest 1 Percent https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/paradise-papers-exposes-donald-trump-russia-links-and-piggy-banks-of-the-wealthiest-1-percent/ By ICIJ - November 5, 2017

The leaked documents, dubbed the Paradise Papers, show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants, including Apple, Nike, Uber and other global companies that avoid taxes through increasingly imaginative bookkeeping maneuvers.

Paradise Papers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Papers - Wikipedia

The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and a network of more than 380 journalists. Some of the details were made public on 5 November 2017 and stories are still being released.

Countries with politicians, public officials, or close associates named in the leakThe documents originate from the legal firm Appleby, the corporate services providers Estera and Asiaciti Trust, and business registries in 19 tax jurisdictions. They contain the names of more than 120,000 people and companies. Among those whose financial affairs are mentioned are, separately, AIG, then-Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II, President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Greeks in the Paradise Papers

From the Wikipedia article above:

Mareva Grabowski is listed in the Paradise Papers. She is married to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who later became Prime Minister of Greece. She owns 50% of an offshore company, Eternia Capital Management in the Cayman Islands. This match was verified in Appleby and listed in Cayman records on 30 March 2010.

In total, 2.829 Greek names are listed in the papers, including several prominent business people.

Odessa Mafia

Paradise Papers: Ukraine crime gang hid proceeds in luxury London flats https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43823962 - Paradise Papers reporting team - BBC Panorama - 23 April 2018

The Odesa Mafia’s Secret Flats in London https://www.occrp.org/en/project/paradise-papers/the-odesa-mafias-secret-flats-in-london by Anna Babinets and Elena Loginova - Paradise Papers Investigation - April 23, 2018

In the 1990s, “Angert’s Gang” in Odesa, Ukraine, was a powerhouse of crime. It diverted fuel sales from the reliably corrupt Odesa Refinery, extorted local businessmen, and even arranged the murders of local enemies and politicians.

Points of interest:

  • Info about the Odessa mafia also comes from the Panama Papers
  • As of 2018 the daughter of the crime boss Aleksander Angert lived in London
  • Aleksander Angert lives according to an account the turkish resort town Bodrum
  • Original group leader Leonid Minin was also involved in arms trafficking
  • Gennadiy Trukhanov the current mayor of Odessa was at one time a member of the group

Interesting to speculate how the new 100-year agreement between UK and Ukraine that involves the Odessa port will impact the illegal activities.


Pandora Papers (2021)

Pandora Papers: An offshore data tsunami https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-leak-dataset/ By Emilia Díaz-Struck et al. - October 3, 2021

A terabyte data trove exposes the offshore secrets of wealthy elites from more than 200 countries and territories. These are people who use tax and secrecy havens to buy property and hide assets; many avoid taxes and worse. They include more than 330 politicians and 130 Forbes billionaires, as well as celebrities, fraudsters, drug dealers, royal family members and leaders of religious groups around the world.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists spent more than a year structuring, researching and analyzing the more than 11.9 million records in the Pandora Papers leak.

The Pandora Papers investigation is the world’s largest-ever journalistic collaboration, involving more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries.

Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/global-investigation-tax-havens-offshore/ by ICIJ - October 3, 2021

Frequently asked questions about the Pandora Papers and ICIJ https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-pandora-papers-and-icij/ By Dean Starkman, Fergus Shiel, Emilia Díaz-Struck and Hamish Boland-Rudder - October 19, 2021

  • Why is it called “Pandora” Papers?

    We called the project Pandora Papers because the investigation builds upon previous ICIJ-led collaborations , the Panama and Paradise Papers; the ancient myth of Pandora’s Box evokes an outpouring of trouble and woe.

  • What’s the difference between Pandora Papers and Panama Papers?

    Size, scale, scope. While the Panama Papers was based on the files of a single offshore services provider, the Pandora Papers records come from 14. The new investigation includes data on more than 27,000 companies and 29,000 so-called ultimate beneficial owners — the real owners of shell companies — or more than twice the number of beneficial owners identified in the Panama Papers. The Pandora Papers also connected offshore activity to more than twice as many politicians and public officials as did the Panama Papers.

Pandora Papers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_Papers - Wikipedia

The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as more than 100 business leaders, billionaires, and celebrities.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and associates

Pandora Papers Reveal Offshore Holdings of Ukrainian President and his Inner Circle https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pandora-papers/pandora-papers-reveal-offshore-holdings-of-ukrainian-president-and-his-inner-circle by Elena Loginova - October 3, 2021

Revealed: ‘anti-oligarch’ Ukrainian president’s offshore connections https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/03/revealed-anti-oligarch-ukrainian-president-offshore-connections-volodymyr-zelenskiy by Luke Harding, Elena Loginova and Aubrey Belford - Sun 3 Oct 2021 - Archive https://archive.ph/uJwGd

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has railed against politicians hiding wealth offshore but failed to disclose links to BVI firm

Was Volodymyr Zelensky in the Panama Papers? Offshore Companies Revealed https://www.newsweek.com/zelensky-panama-pandora-papers-offshore-companies-finances-1776124 by Jack Dutton - Jan 24, 2023

The Pandora Papers showed that two offshore companies belonging to Zelensky’s partners were used to buy three upmarket properties in central London.

The papers showed that weeks before he won the presidential vote, Zelensky gave his stake in the British Virgin Islands-registered Maltex Multicapital Corp. to his business partner, Serhiy Shefir, who would later become a top presidential aide.

However, the document shows that an arrangement would soon be made to allow the company to continue paying dividends to a company that belongs to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska.


Started: Fri, Apr 11, 2025

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Monday, March 24, 2025

Συνέντευξη του πρωην πρεσβευτη στην Ουκρανία Βασιλειου Μπορνοβα

Version 1: Mon, Mar 24, 2025

Ο Βασίλειος Μπορνόβας ήταν ο Έλληνας πρεσβευτής στην Ουκρανία το 2022 όταν ξεκίνησε ο πόλεμος. Στην τρίτη επέτειο της ρωσικής εισβολής έδωσε συνέντευξη στον Paulos της Hellas Journal για τον πόλεμο, τις παγκόσμιες υποθέσεις και την εξωτερική πολιτική της Ελλάδας.

Για πολλούς ανθρώπους στην Ελλάδα οι απόψεις του θα φανούν εκπληκτικές επειδή τα μέσα ενημέρωσης σε αυτή τη χώρα ελέγχονται σε μεγάλο βαθμό από φιλοδυτικά επιχειρηματικά συμφέροντα που προωθούν την αντιρωσική προπαγάνδα. Ωστόσο, όποιος έχει πρόσβαση σε ξένα μέσα μέσω του διαδικτύου και γνωρίζει αρκετά καλά μια γλώσσα όπως τα αγγλικά για να τα χρησιμοποιήσει και να κάνει κάποια έρευνα θα έρθει λίγο πολύ στις ίδιες θέσεις με τον πρεσβευτή.

Η συνεντευξη θεμελιωνει τη αναγκη για αναθεωρηση της Ελληνικης εξωτερικης πολιτικης.

Έχω εδώ μια μικρή συλλογή αποσπασμάτων αλλά το άρθρο αξίζει να διαβαστεί ολόκληρο. Τα αποσπάσματα ομαδοποιούνται εστιάζοντας σε μικρό αριθμό θεμάτων, αλλά η συνέντευξη καλύπτει μια ευρύτερη περιοχή. Εχω προσθεσει εμφαση σε ορισμενα σημεια:


Διαφθορα

Μιλούμε λοιπόν για την απόλυτη διαφθορά στον τομέα της δικαιοσύνης, στις προμήθειες του Δημοσίου αλλά κυρίως του στρατού, στη διαχείριση των δανείων που χορηγούντο από διεθνή χρηματοπιστωτικά ιδρύματα, στη λειτουργία του κοινοβουλίου κτλ.

Ωστόσο, τον σημαντικότερο ρόλο έπαιζαν οι λεγόμενοι ολιγάρχες, που είχαν επιδοθεί στην συστηματική αφαίμαξη των ταμείων του δημοσίου και των τραπεζών, με αποτέλεσμα μια χώρα με σημαντικούς πλουτοπαραγωγικούς πόρους να βλέπει τους νέους κυρίως ανθρώπους της να προσφυγοποιούνται κατα κύματα, πολύ πριν ξεκινήσει ο πόλεμος.

Εντύπωσή μου είναι ότι ένας από τους λόγους που τον οδήγησαν στην σκλήρυνση της στάσης του απέναντι στους Ρώσους ήταν και η προσπάθειά του να βάλλει μια τάξη στα εσωτερικά της χώρας του. Θα μπορούσαμε εδώ να προσθέσουμε και τη δύσκολη θέση στην οποία περιήλθε ο Ζελένσκι με αφορμή τη δημοσιοποίηση των Pandora Papers και τις αποκαλύψεις περί σημαντικών περιουσιακών στοιχείων αυτού και φίλων του σε εξωχώριες εταιρίες.

Και επισης:

Η Ουκρανία θα μπορούσε να είχε οργανωθεί σαν χώρα, αναπτύξει την οικονομία της και αξιοποιήσει τους πόρους της εδώ και πολλά χρόνια. Δεν της επετράπη κάτι τέτοιο από την οργάνωση της εξουσίας και από τον οικονομικό ανταγωνισμό των ολιγαρχών, όπως ήδη αναφέραμε. Αυτό είχε σαν αποτέλεσμα να παραμένει η παραγωγική δομή της Ουκρανίας προσηλωμένη στον γεωργικό τομέα αφενός, και σε ένα βιομηχανικό τομέα που ήταν αυτός προσανατολισμένος κυρίως σε οπλικά συστήματα, αφετέρου.

Πως φθασαμε στον πολεμο

Τρίτος λόγος, οι αφόρητες πιέσεις που η κυβέρνηση Ζελένσκι δέχθηκε από την κυβέρνηση Μπάιντεν, κυρίως δε από το δίδυμο Πάγιατ και Νούλαντ, που είχε παλαιότερα διαχειριστεί με επιτυχία το πραξικόπημα κατά της ουκρανικής κυβέρνησης το 2014, καθώς και τον αμερικανό ΥΠΕΞ κύριο Μπλίνκεν με μακρά θητεία στα πράγματα της Ουκρανίας.

Έτσι, ήδη από τις αρχές του 2022 ο Ζελένσκι θέτει θέμα ένταξης της χώρας του στο ΝΑΤΟ καθώς και επιβολής προληπτικών κυρώσεων στη Ρωσία, αναφερόμενος κυρίως στον ρόλο του αγωγού Nord Stream 2 ως γεωπολιτικού όπλου της χώρας αυτής.

Δυο ενδιαφεροντα προσφατα αρθρα (στα Αγγλικα) για επιπλεον πληροφορηση:

Αυτοκεφαλία της Εκκλησίας

Γενικώς, η επιφυλακτικότητα που αναπτύχθηκε μετά τα γεγονότα του 2014, βάθυνε ακόμα περισσότερο το χάσμα μεταξύ ανατολικής και δυτικής Ουκρανίας καθώς και το χάσμα μεταξύ της Εκκλησίας της Ουκρανίας, που πρόσκειται στο Ρωσικό Πατριαρχείο, και της Αυτοκεφάλου Εκκλησίας της Ουκρανίας.

Επ᾽ αυτού οφείλω να ομολογήσω ότι το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο δεν φαίνεται να ζήτησε ποτέ τη γνώμη της Ελλάδας όταν αποφάσισε να ευλογήσει μία καινούργια ουκρανική εκκλησία. Διότι η δημιουργία της Αυτοκέφαλου Εκκλησίας είχε τα σοβαρά παρεπόμενά της, κυρίως δε τον περαιτέρω διχασμό μιας ήδη πολωμένης κοινωνίας. Ο διχασμός αυτός συνέπεσε με τα όρια μεταξύ ουκρανόφωνων και ρωσόφωνων, όχι μόνο γεωγραφικά αλλά και κοινωνικά.

Οφείλω εδώ να επισημάνω ότι η Αυτοκεφαλία οδήγησε σε συγκρούσεις μέσα στο ποίμνιο, σε βίαιη υφαρπαγή εκκλησιαστικών ακινήτων από την ουκρανική αστυνομία, σε εκδίωξη ιερέων και αρχιερέων και σε ανάδειξη μιας νέας Εκκλησίας που δημιουργήθηκε προφανώς για να εξυπηρετήσει πολλαπλούς ρόλους:

Οι προσπάθειες για την ανάδειξη και εμπέδωση της νέας αυτής Εκκλησίας ενισχύθηκαν εν πολλοίς από την USAID με διοργάνωση πληθώρας εκδηλώσεων, ενοικίαση διαφημιστικών πανώ και ραδιοτηλεοπτικού χρόνου.

Οφείλω επίσης να παρατηρήσω ότι οι κληρικοί της νέας αυτής Εκκλησίας είχαν ελλειπτική θεολογική μόρφωση, αγνοώντας οι περισσότεροι τους Πατέρες της Εκκλησίας, καθώς αγνοούσαν, στη συντριπτική τους πλειοψηφία, την ελληνική γλώσσα σε αντίθεση με τους «αντιπάλους» τους, η πλειοψηφία των οποίων είχε εδραία θεολογική μόρφωση, γνώση της Ελλάδας και της γλώσσας μας. Τώρα, όλα τούτα αποτελούν παρελθόν.

Σχεσεις Ελλαδας και Ουκρανιας

Αλλά και όταν κατά την επίσκεψή του στο Κίεβο, τον Ιούλιο του 2021, ο κύριος Δένδιας ζήτησε από τους Ουκρανούς συνομιλητές του να ευθυγραμμιστούν με το ευρωπαϊκό κεκτημένο και να στηρίξουν τις κοινές θέσεις της ΕΕ για την Κύπρο, εισέπραξε την άρνηση των Ουκρανών. Μάλιστα δε, ο τότε Ουκρανός ΥΠΕΞ κύριος Κουλέμπα τόνισε ότι η συμμαχία με την Τουρκία αποτελεί για την Ουκρανία ζήτημα εθνικής επιβίωσης.

Αργότερα, τον Αύγουστο, όταν και πάλι η ελληνική πλευρά ζήτησε από τους Ουκρανούς να εναρμονιστούν με τη Δήλωση Borrell για το Κυπριακό και να την προσυπογράψουν, οι Ουκρανοί απέφυγαν να δεσμευθούν και δεν μας απήντησαν ποτέ. Την ίδια τύχη είχαν και τα διαβήματα των Κυπρίων συναδέλφων. Αντιθέτως, προωθούσαν παντί τρόπω τη συνεργασία με την Τουρκία στον στρατιωτικό τομέα.

Επιπλέον, είναι γεγονός ότι η ελληνική κυβέρνηση ευθυγραμμίστηκε απόλυτα με τις επιταγές του διδύμου Νούλαντ–Πάγιατ. Δεν υπήρχε στην ελληνική πολιτική για την Ουκρανία ζήτημα είτε ένταξης είτε βελτίωσης των όρων της ελληνικής μειονότητας, της ελληνικής κοινότητας στην περιοχή, είτε απεμπλοκής της Ουκρανίας από τον πολύ στενό τουρκικό εναγκαλισμό, είτε ζήτημα Κύπρου.

Ελληνικη ηπια δύναμη (Soft Power)

Υπήρχαν και άλλα θέματα. Το γεγονός ότι στην Ουκρανία δεν υπήρξε ποτέ ένα ελληνικό σχολείο. Όχι κάποια μαθήματα που να διδάσκονται μια φορά την εβδομάδα, αλλά σχολείο. Δεν επιδιώξαμε εμείς; Δεν μας το επέτρεψαν οι Ουκρανοί; Δεν μπόρεσα ποτέ να καταλάβω. Το σίγουρο είναι ότι τελικώς δεν κερδίσαμε τίποτα. Δεν πήραμε κάτι απ᾽ όλη αυτήν την ιστορία. Ούτε στο Κυπριακό, ούτε στην ελληνική μειονότητα της Ουκρανίας, ούτε στις ουκρανο–τουρκικές σχέσεις, οι οποίες όχι μόνο βελτιώνονται αλλά και ενισχύεται η γεωστρατηγική θέση της Τουρκίας στη Μαύρη Θάλασσα.

Επισης:

Υπάρχουν πολλοί τρόποι να προσεγγίσεις τη γείτονα. Κι εφόσον η ίδια έχει αποφασίσει να μας μιλάει και στη γλώσσα μας, π.χ. μέσα από ελληνικές εκπομπές, από τηλεοπτικά σίριαλ και ούτω καθεξής, καλό θα ήταν κάποια στιγμή κι εμείς να τους μιλήσουμε στη γλώσσα τους: το Αθηναϊκό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων να αποκτήσει την τουρκική ιστοσελίδα του και την τουρκική του εκπομπή, ούτως ώστε να υπάρξει μια γραμμή επικοινωνίας με τον κόσμο.

Αυτή τη στιγμή δεν υπάρχει καμία γραμμή επικοινωνίας. Ο τουρκικός λαός διαβάζει τις τουρκικές εφημερίδες οι οποίες γράφουν ό,τι ακριβώς τους υπαγορεύει η κυβέρνησή τους. Δεν έχουν άλλο τρόπο να πληροφορηθούν ποιά είναι η Ελλάδα, τί θέλει, τί επιδιώκει.

Έγινε μια προσπάθεια όταν ήμουν Γενικός Πρόξενος στην Κωνσταντινούπολη να δημιουργήσουμε ένα πολιτιστικό Κέντρο το οποίο ακτινοβόλησε στην Τουρκία, το Σισμανόγλειο. Το οποίο επεδίωκε να επηρεάσει την αστική τάξη της Τουρκίας, το πεδίο λήψεως αποφάσεων, τους ανθρώπους που κάποια στιγμή θα εισέρχονταν στην κυβέρνηση και στον κρατικό μηχανισμό.

Όλα αυτά τα έχουν πραγματοποιήσει χώρες όπως η Γαλλία, η Ισπανία, η Γερμανία, εδώ και 100 χρόνια. Δεν είναι κάτι καινούριο, αλλά δυστυχώς δεν αποτελεί προτεραιότητα των ελληνικών κυβερνήσεων.

Δημοσιευσεις που αναφερουν την πολιτιστικη δραση του:


Σημειωσεις

Ο Πρέσβης ε.τ. Βασίλειος Μπορνόβας, Πρέσβης της Ελλάδας στο Κίεβο, αποκλειστικά κι εφ’ όλης της ύλης στη Hellas Journal, στην τρίτη επέτειο του πολέμου στην Ουκρανία

Part A: Archive https://archive.ph/fI1cG

Part B: https://hellasjournal.com/2025/02/o-presvis-e-t-vasileios-bornovas-presvis-tis-elladas-sto-kievo-apokleistika-ki-ef-olis-tis-ylis-sti-hellas-journal-stin-triti-epeteio-tou-polemou-stin-oukrania-v-meros/ - Archive https://archive.ph/FE4Go

Part C: https://hellasjournal.com/2025/02/o-presvis-e-t-vasileios-bornovas-presvis-tis-elladas-sto-kievo-apokleistika-ki-ef-olis-tis-ylis-sti-hellas-journal-stin-triti-epeteio-tou-polemou-stin-oukrania-g-meros/ - Archive https://archive.ph/P5GNk

Lauria, Joe (2025) - “Yes, Ukraine Started the War” - https://consortiumnews.com/2025/02/23/yes-ukraine-started-the-war/ by Joe Lauria - Consortium News - February 23, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/4wxPD

Kuperman, Alan J. - “Sadly, Trump is right on Ukraine” https://thehill.com/opinion/5198022-ukraine-conflict-disinformation/ By Alan J. Kuperman, Op-Ed The Hill - March 18, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/j3B3a

Έμαθα για τη συνέντευξη από ένα πρόσφατο άρθρο του SOTT που δημοσιεύτηκε αρχικά στο RT:

SOTT (2025) - “OSCE shared intel with Ukraine before 2022 - ex-Greek ambassador” - https://www.rt.com/news/613592-ex-greek-ambassador-osce-helped-ukraine/ - Archive https://archive.ph/00Tll

Brousou, Anastasia (2011) - “Increasing Number of Greeks Wishing to Learn Turkish & Vice-Versa!” https://greekreporter.com/2011/01/20/increasing-number-of-greeks-wishing-to-learn-turkish-vice-versa/ By Anastasia Brousou - January 20, 2011 - Archive https://archive.ph/eptu7

The General Consul of Greece in Istanbul Vasilis Bornovas, realized the Greek language and cultural interest by the Turks. He opened a Greek language school in Sismanogleio Megaro, in Istanbul. According to the Greek Consul: “The first year of opening we had 50-60 students, but last year their number reached 200. This year we expect to have 500-600 students. As I am informed, Greeks express great interest about learning Turkish and in Greece there are 150 schools, while many people come to Istanbul in order to have lessons in TOMER (Turkish Language Learning Center)”.

Pearse, Roger (2011) - “Facsimile edition of the ms. of Critoboulos’ History of the Fall of Constantinople to be published” - https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/tag/fall-of-constantinople/ by Roger Pearse - May 19, 2012 - Archive https://archive.ph/7kg5k

It seems that the Greek consul in Istanbul, Vasilis Bornovas, is an enterprising man who is interested in promoting the study of Greek in Istanbul.

Ίδρυμα Παύλου & Αλεξάνδρας Κανελλοπούλου https://pacf.gr/


Started: Mon, Mar 24, 2025

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