Us, them and the media

Almost a month ago, when Turkey’s MetroPoll published a survey on how the Turkish public views Greece, many Greeks were surprised. The findings revealed that, despite the extreme and belligerent rhetoric from the political leadership in Ankara, the people aren’t taking the bait. Asked if there is “enmity between the Turkish and Greek people,” 64% answered that the Greek people are friends and less than a third (31.3%) said that they are enemies.

A Greek academic who lives and works in Ankara posted the news on Facebook, hailing the findings. However, a Turkish online friend of his made a scathing comment: “Great news! It would be interesting to conduct a similar poll in Greece to see what our Greek friends think about us.” He implied that we Greeks are less friendly towards our neighbors. Was he right?

I’m afraid we’re doing something wrong here. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean the Greek media. The way Greek-Turkish relations are presented on television, especially, is borderline comical

Yes and no. The first joint survey ever to be held in Greece and Turkey was conducted in February 2021 and was the work of a research partnership between Dianeosis and the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), with the cooperation of the Istanbul Policy Center. The polls were carried out by well-known companies in the two countries, MRB in Greece and Konda in Turkey, with the participation of 1,022 Greek and 1,163 Turkish citizens. The findings were very interesting and in every answer the Turks did indeed appear a bit more friendly and amenable than us. In the first of the main conclusions of the study, it became clear that Turkey is present in the Greek public debate much, much more than Greece is in the Turkish public sphere.

This has also been my own experience: when I look for reports on specific Greek-Turkish issues in the Turkish media, the story rarely appears at the top, even when tension is running high. I often find it under the celebrity gossip and sports.

I’m afraid we’re doing something wrong here. And when I say “we” I mean the Greek media. The way Greek-Turkish relations are presented on television, especially, is borderline comical. The excessive coverage of the slightest nonsense spoken by any random Turkish official and its presentation as top news, the visual dramatizations and in general the dramatic tone, the constant repetitions and the over-the-top language create a negative climate in society. As if things weren’t serious enough in themselves and we could afford not to be serious.