A. Tsipras Shots Against Allies: They Take Us to an Arms Race, Arming Turkey

By Niki Zorba

He is not negative about the F35 as a weapon but anxious, said Alexis Tsipras, leaving direct allusions to the attitude of the Allies, who are constantly arming Turkey, leading Greece to an ongoing arms race.

¨ “We do not see this competition ending if our allies are constantly equipping Turkey. Where will this go?” he asked characteristically in his first interview (Real Fm) after the internal party elections of SYRIZA.

At the same time, this is not the first time that Alexis Tsipras has publicly stated that the precondition for forming a progressive government is for SYRIZA to be the first to go to the polls in the national elections, rejecting scenarios that make him willing to agree to a coalition government between the second and third parties. – PASOK / KINAL).

He has stated his position for months, but the relevant scenarios, however, persist. He made sure to clarify it again through his new interview, stating that in addition to the arithmetic (whether or not the “beans” of the votes come out) it is also a matter of political ethics to govern the party that will be elected first by the Greek people.

This is, after all, the tip he leaves directly against Nikos Androulakis after his position that he will not support either K. Mitsotakis or Alexis Tsipras for prime minister.

In this context, he said, among other things, about:

Mitsotaki’s visit to the USA

Undoubtedly an honorable moment for the country is the speech of the Greek Prime Minister in the Congress.

The point is neither to admire nor to admire ourselves. In no case do we choose the model of the troublemaker Erdogan or the given ally.

We have prepared a review of the Defense Agreement. Biden had stated to me in 2016 the will to make the Greek-American agreement 5 years old. I did not answer in the negative.

The Greek government then – to be fair – put on the table a series of rewards. But the United States rejected them. They rejected 100% of what we asked for and we gave 100% and more of what they asked for.

I see a Turkey that is constantly being upgraded. My suggestion is that no one take us for granted. Greece must be a predictable country for everyone. I set the bar in Parliament: I ask Biden not to give F16 to Turkey. If this weakness brings us 4 billion extra equipments with F-35, then I am very worried.

I had said the word Turkey 10 times in front of the cameras to Trump and Mitsotakis did not say it once.

F35

We are not negative, we are worried because the bill has gone up dramatically. We do not see an end to this competition if our allies are constantly equipping Turkey. Where will this go?

These issues should be consulted with those responsible. A thorough discussion in a competent parliamentary committee and KYSEA has not taken place.

SYRIZA elections

Unprecedented process and I feel justified. We took a risk and it worked out for us. There was no rival, it was a risk to participate. And because we did not do what the other parties did, we did not invite friends to come and vote. For us it was a very essential process. We reached 172,000 members, before the ballot box we had 60,000 members while when we ruled we had 30,000 members.

SYRIZA came to stay. The party SYRIZA now corresponds to a certain extent with the social SYRIZA.

There is currently no different political plan in the party, which is why there was no rival.

It’s a big bet how to build a modern party. We must take advantage of new technologies. To have a role for the new members who came to formulate policy through votes, referendums.

SYRIZA Central Committee

Our elections were divided into 13 Regions. So the journalistic interest was in Attica, where half the candidates were. The 60,000 members could vote in the JV and not the new 110,000 who registered after 21.03.

It is of great value that women went extremely high. The JV consists of 150 women and 150 men. Many men were wronged because of a quota for women but in the end most were elected without the need for a quota.

The PASOK family has been voting for SYRIZA for more than 10 years.

PASOK- KINAL

What I am asking for is that no one has closed papers regarding who will be the next prime minister. Shadows that have an institutional impact are left. The prime ministers must be elected by the people. The longer he does not clarify his position, the more suspicions are left for Papadimos or Bankers type solutions.

Political change means that SYRIZA is the first party. Apart from the beans that do not come out if SYRIZA is not the first party, it is also a matter of political change.