Thanos Davelis

This week saw tensions between Greece and Turkey reach levels we have not seen since 2022 in the Aegean as Turkey sent its warships into an area south of the Greek islands of Kassos and Karpathos. Expert Constantinos Filis joins Thanos Davelis to look into whether we are seeing a gradual return of tensions in the Aegean after more than a year of calm. 

Professor Gonda Van Steen, the Koraes Chair at the Centre for Hellenic Studies and Department of Classics at King's College London and a member of the academic committee for the Alexandria Cavafy House, joins Thanos Davelis to explore why making Cavafy widely accessible - from his Alexandria home to the Cavafy Archive in Athens - is important, and look at why his work still inspires us today.

While Hungary's Victor Orban - who currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU - is bidding to become the dominant hard-right force in the EU, he's also raising eyebrows on the international level.

With the US in the midst of an intense diplomatic push to prevent a war between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, Turkey has also waded into the mix.

While it's still unclear what Turkey is looking to achieve should a conflict erupt, it looks like a policy is taking shape, especially after Ankara followed up on Hezbollah's threats to Cyprus with its own "warning."

With SYRIZA on the brink of civil war, PASOK facing a new leadership fight, and New Democracy still reeling from the aftermath of the European elections, it seems like a period of uncertainty has set in among Greece's top political parties.

Greece sent its frigate "Psara" to the Red Sea this week to join Operation Aspides, the EU's mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant ships from Houthi attacks. The Psara is replacing the Hydra, which completed a three month deployment in the Red Sea, at a time when the Houthis are escalating their campaign.

The aftershocks of the European elections are still being felt in Greece, as none of the big three parties reached their stated goals. The country's attention has turned to the center left, particularly PASOK, where several party officials are calling for a leadership change. At the same time, there are growing internal discussions in PASOK and SYRIZA regarding forming a coalition.

Turkey is set to join the nuclear energy club, with the Akkuyu plant expected to go online at the end of the year. It has plans for two more nuclear energy sites. Expert Eleni Ekmektsioglou joins Thanos Davelis to look into Turkey's nuclear energy ambitions and what they mean for regional stability.

Ryan Gingeras joins Thanos Davelis to discuss Turkey's latest decision to teach the controversial Blue Homeland doctrine in Turkish schools, its wider ramifications, and explore the link between the rhetoric of conquest we've become used to hearing from Erdogan on the commemoration of the fall of Constantinople and policies like Blue Homeland. 

Late last week Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was in the ethnic Greek town of Himare, where he announced the restitution of some 400 titles to homes in the area to residents who have been suing the Albanian state for more than 30 years.