6514 - The repercussions of topostrategy in Thrace
N. Lygeros
Translation: Paola Vagioni
Topostrategy does not only work in the Aegean but also in Caucasus and in the Kurdish issue as well, with the triple point of contact notion. Therefore, it is expected to have consequences in Thrace as well, not only the Western part but the Eastern too. The basic element of its implementation is the Berlin Treaty (1. 2.) of 1878 and the Lausanne Treaty of 1923. In order to understand its repercussions on Thrace it is not enough to think in Greek terms. We have to make a European transgression in order to touch the issue of balkanization too. The historical framework, where the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire come into conflict is valuable, especially if we replace the first with the European Union, not of course as an Empire in the traditional sense but as a topostrategical entity with its proper dynamic. The conflict may not be visible to everyone but this doesn’t mean that it does not exist in the invisible of mental strategy. In reality, while Thrace constitutes a historical target, there are pressures and frictions. Moreover, due to the problematic exchange of populations which violates human rights, we are faced with an internal problem which has to be modeled also through graph theory. A relevant attempt has already been made in the area of epidemiology for the historical black plague. In this case, the modeling is exercised on the patients and the disease is considered as epiphenomenon. In this new field the expansion of the problem can also be studied. The areas can be interpreted as cells of new Voronoi diagrams which are applied on populations and not territories, at least primarily. In this way we can effectively interpret the persistence of the Ottoman Empire to preserve a connectivity with Southern Bulgaria, sacrificing the Northern, in order to have direct access to the Balkans. The problems that are produced in Thrace are not only relevant to the ones that arose in Imvros, Tenedos and Cyprus. The distortion of the population is not the only technique that is applied because Thrace has a magnitude and a location where it is not sufficient. In reality, the internal frictions also follow the theory of war of Clausewitz. The study of the area with a topostrategical approach, reminds us of Armenia and its problems as far the population is concerned. Moreover, the presence and the volume of the first army on behalf of Turkey constitute a natural reinforcement of the pressure. The change of phase is not that impossible as some think or to phrase it better, as some want to believe. Eastern Thrace was lost by wrong estimations due to the focusing of the problem on Smyrna. It is not necessary to wait for relevant mistakes on Western Thrace. We have tools, we have theories, we simply have to have the will too.