DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS

THE TURKS WANT MORE TERRITORY

THE EXPANSIONIST POLICIES OF TURKEY make it impossible to stick to its zero conflict targets.

Areas where Turkey is showing an increased level of activity:

• Search and Rescue over an extended range in the Mediterranean.
• Search and Rescue over the entire Aegean.
• Issuing NOTAMs which lock huge areas of the Aegean, even a breath away from mainland Greece, for NAVY exercises.
• Illegal NAVY   presence in Greek territorial waters.
• Continuously increased AIR FORCE activity with fly overs and low flying activity over Greek air space.
• Participation in the Syrian conflict.
• Conflict with Kurds.
• Creation of military base in Qatar.
• Submarine base in Albania.

In the graphic one can see the shaded area outlined by the red line, which is fast becoming  part of everyday Turkish control through constant NAVY and AIR FORCE activity.

It has been reported that the Kurdish fighters in East Turkey are about to launch offensives to reach the natural border of Euphrates river. Is this going to be an oncoming loss of territory for Turkey?

And if so, is their aggressiveness in the Aegean  part of a counterbalance move by achieving control of the Eastern Mediterranean? It remains to be seen.

Turkey is anything but a stability factor in the Middle Eastern area.

With specific relevance to Greece I am afraid that Turkey is using the method of death by a thousand cuts, that is, achieving its target of domination of the Aegean by constant territorial pressure.

The point is what is Greece doing about it? Because, let's face it, if these pressures remain unanswered the greed of the attacker becomes de-facto acceptable by the international community.

In the same way, the procrastination of dealing firmly and authoritatively with the FYROM naming issue has left Greece without many supporters on the issue.

What if the Turks gamble on the grey area game? I am sure THEY have many islets similar to IMIA that  would  considered as fair game in a territorial game in the Aegean. They would have more to lose.

Of course this needs an aggressively weighed  policy by Greece which is not going to happen because it is governed by people who have consistently stood shorter than their historical duty since WW2.

It is a fact that standing against a foe with little or no defensive plans and actions produces more determination on their part to grab what they can.

What Greek governments should consider is the notion of "ANY WAR IS A NO WIN BY EITHER SIDE".

In such a move, the opposition would be powerless to proceed to any action as it would be clear that no gain would come out of it.

I came across the advertisement of a magazine with an article on defence in tight economic times.

Update on this soon, probably next month.

 

MORE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

Without comment, to preserve its authenticity we present an article published by the Seattle Times .

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Costco embraces Greek extra-virgin olive oil amid Italian crop’s woes___

Originally published April 27, 2015 at 12:43 pm Updated April 27, 2015 at 6:27 pm

Costco Wholesale has switched the sourcing of the extra virgin olive oil that goes into its Kirkland Signature 2-liter bottle from Italy to Greece.

                                                                                   By Ángel González 

                                                                           Seattle Times business reporter

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Costco Wholesale has switched from Italy to Greece as the source of the extra-virgin olive oil for its Kirkland Signature 2-liter bottle, in what could be a big break for the economically battered cradle of Western Civilization and its relatively unheralded olive-oil industry.
Production in Italy is expected to drop 34 percent this year, according to the International Olive Oil Council.

Prices have gone up accordingly: Italian extra-virgin olive oil in March was sold by producers for about $2.97 a pound, 84 percent more than a year earlier, according to the council.

That price hike must have been tough to swallow for Costco, a company that’s always looking for a good deal.

Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said the availability of the extra-virgin olive oil Costco usually purchases is down to one-tenth of the normal level.

“We wanted to get a single source of good quality; for this year we went to Greece,” he said.

While Spain, the world’s foremost olive-oil producer, also suffered from some of the same weather events that befell Italy, Greece has been largely spared. Its production is expected to more than double this year, and prices for extra-virgin olive oil are up only 15 percent from last year, at a relatively humble $1.45 a pound.

Greece is the third-largest producer of olive oil, after Spain and Italy. The liquid, long a pillar of Mediterranean cooking, is also a mainstay of the Greek economy. In 2013, Greece exported some $602 million worth of olive oil, its third most valuable export after petroleum products and medicine, according to data from the World Bank.

Yet the majority of its olive oil is shipped in bulk to Italy. A 2012 report by global consultancy McKinsey says that allows Italian companies to capture an extra 50 percent premium on the value of the final product.

Packaging and branding its olive oil would greatly boost profits and help the Greece brand, McKinsey concluded.

Currently, only about 4 percent of Greek olive oil ends up in the U.S., the second-largest importer of olive oil in the world. Here its virtues are unsung, says David Neuman, CEO of the U.S. unit of Greek olive-oil company Gaea.

Americans “know about Greek yogurt, we know about good feta cheese, we don’t know much about good Greek olive oil,” Neuman says.

But that may change with the Costco deal; on the warehouse club’s cornucopian shelves, the formerly green label and cap of the 2-liter extra-virgin oil bottles are now blue and proudly display the oil’s Hellenic origin.

“Certainly it’s going to put Greece on the map, because people watch what Costco does,” Neuman says.

Dare we hope?

IS THIS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

Brazil is looking for new suppliers of wheat.                                 

Will a visit to Greece by Brazilian traders spark a wind of change in the Greek economy?                                   

A very large contingent of Brazilian traders and government officials with main representative the Giant company Coonagro signed a number of deals with Greek Farmers and Government.


The Brazilians want to make Greece part of the production chain of Brazilian agricultural products through the partnership of companies of the two countries which will use raw materials from Latin America such as soya, sugar, and meat products. The final products will be exported to the East European markets.
The reasons for choosing Greece is its dynamic farming sector and its membership of the EU which enforces important European criteria of production.

THE AGREEMENTS

• The first agreement is between Coonagro and ΕΛΒΙΖ (Hellenic Animal Feed Manufacturers)  for the production of animal food and soya oil with Brazilian soya seed. These will be exported to Russia and any leftover product will be sold to Brazil.
• The second agreement is between Coonagro and  ΔΗΜΗΤΡΑ who will produce pet foods with Brazilian meat products destined for export.
• More agreements are worked between Coonagro and Greek companies for use of silos and port facilities.
• Coonagro has started talks with farming cooperatives in Thessaloniki, Kilkis, Karditsa and Alexandroupoli for agreements on the cultivation of 500,000 acres of wheat for export to Brazil.
• Another player is IBRA, the largest company of farming technology in Latin America.They hope to help produce in Greece, crops of wheat of double the yield with nanotechnology.
• Further more, the talks between Greeks and Brazilians included possible deals on Tourism and energy.
• PETROBRAS refineries  want to supply ΕΛΠΕ with oil to be made into DIESEL.

IN THE MEAN TIME...

In the mean time Greek farmers empty their milk jugs in the street and block the motorways in protest for now having to pay tax!

Hey stupid, wake up and smell the change. Get off your backside and pay yor taxes like everybody else.

It seems to me that there is a section of Greece's population that just wants to sit back at the KAFENEION and argue about change while the rest of the world is buzzing by.

Hey stupid, wake up and smell the change.

TERROR IN EUROPE

I found this graphic and thought it was quite interesting.

No comment.