EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): Helleniscope has offered our readers many interesting facts and factoids that connect the CIA to Greece over the last few years.  Please allow me to list some:

• OSS’s (the precursor of the CIA) first operation occurred in Crete during WWII.
• Thomas Karamessinis, born in New York, served in Greece during WWII, was part of the OSS because he spoke Greek and later became a high-rank official at the CIA, bringing in the Agency several Greek-Americans who later formed the infamous “Greek Club.”
• The CIA chief in Athens, Gust Avrakotos (who later became a hero in Afghanistan), was the central figure enabling the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
• As we all know, 15-20 years ago, both the CIA director (George Tenet) and the DNI director (John Negroponte) were Greek Americans.
• CIA’s station in Athens has become, in the last 30 years, the most populous than any in other European capital, obviously because of the geographical location of Athens at the meeting of three continents and the ample supply of Greek-American agents…

I could go on, but this short list gives you the picture along with the recent developments – esp. Erdogan’s re-election – that has rendered Greece an IRREPLACEABLE base for US foreign policy. For the rest, please read the news in English and Greek as reported by “TA NEA” newspaper and in.gr.

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What Is the CIA Director Looking for in Athens, 11 Years later

Yesterday he had a series of meetings in the Greek capital, in a visit that reflects the “real upgrading and strengthening of Greek-US relations”; this is followed by a visit by former US President Barack Obama

By Alexandra Photaki

CIA director William Burns is touring the wider region these days. A tour that takes place in the shadow of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with the tension in Kosovo returning, but also in a period of elections in Greece and Turkey. Of particular importance is the attitude of the director of the CIA in Athens, a meaningful visit that passed under the publicity radar. Burns was in Athens on Tuesday and spent the day holding a series of meetings with “services” officials. Meetings which remained under the publicity radar, however according to the information of “NEA” (Daily newspaper) they were particularly productive. With the CIA director leaving Greece yesterday morning for the next stop on his tour completely satisfied.

As competent sources reported to “NEA”, Burns’ arrival in Athens was the first visit of a CIA director to Greece in 11 years and reflects the “real upgrading and strengthening of Greece-US relations, which have gone to a completely different stage ».

After all, for the US, Greece has turned into a point of reference, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with US actors underlining that in the wider region of the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa, there are not many democracies that Washington can rely on. , on the contrary in Athens the US considers that it has a “reliable partner that they can work with and trust”.

Supply logistics

With the role of Greece becoming geostrategically particularly important for NATO as well, since it has turned into the center of “supply logistics” for the army, and the US has now expanded to eight bases on Greek soil in which they are investing millions of dollars. Given these, Athens becomes an important and, above all, “predictable” ally on which they can rely. They note the role and relations of Greece both with Israel and with countries of the Middle East, which, along with its participation and contribution to NATO, make it a state that deserves respect.

The visit of the director of the CIA to Athens is characterized by competent analysts as a result of the above and in the context of a “parade” of American officials, parliamentarians, military and agents, which reflect the absolute identification of Athens with Washington and the real upgrading of relations. After all, the former president of the USA, Barack Obama, will be in Athens in June, in order to participate in this year’s SNF Nostos Conference of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). The high-level visits is assumed that they will continue.

The new appointment

It should be noted that Burns was in Athens just a few days after the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the presidency of Turkey and his communication with US President Joe Biden, with Washington clearly stating that it wants to keep Ankara under Western influence. The American president told Erdogan during the congratulatory phone call, as reported by the Turkish media, that the “intervention of the West against him was unfair”. The Turkish president brought up the issue of F-16s in his discussion with Biden, with the US president raising the question of Sweden joining NATO. A new Biden-Erdogan phone call remains open for next week, confirming Washington’s goodwill gestures toward Ankara.

Warning by Menendez

At the same time, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the American Senate, Robert Menendez, commenting on Erdogan’s victory, emphasized his hope that the Turkish president would adopt a “less belligerent” attitude towards NATO allies and Greece’s neighbors. To emphasize that “if we have the same, or more of the same, like what we have seen, then I will still have the same positions I had before.” He hastened to underline that for him Sweden is only part of the equation and not the whole equation. It should be noted that the White House argued in its announcement yesterday that the delivery of the F-16s to Turkey will not be made in exchange for Sweden joining NATO.

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Τι ψάχνει στην Αθήνα ο διευθυντής της CIA, 11 χρόνια μετά

ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΙΑ

Ο Ουίλιαμ Μπερνς βρέθηκε στην Αθήνα την Τρίτη και πέρασε τη μέρα του πραγματοποιώντας σειρά συναντήσεων με στελέχη «υπηρεσιών»