She claimed, for example, that the first human settlement was located in Turkey and was dated to circa 5000 B.C. (Chauvet in Southern France, of cave painting fame, dates to somewhere between 27000 B.C. and 32000 B.C. Several advanced cultures – forget just settlements – existed in 5000 B.C.).
She also claimed that writing was invented in Turkey (it was invented in Mesopotamia, in what is now Iraq), that western civilization was founded in Turkey (it was founded in Greece), and that Turkey has been ceaselessly victimized by aggressive invaders for most of its history (though she neglected to mention the many invasions performed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire).
In short, it was propaganda at its most venal.
I hesitated to advance my views on this topic, fearing my censorship would be attributed to the historic rivalry between Greece and Turkey.
In any case, most of her inaccuracies deal with ancient history. The truth is, though, that history, ancient or otherwise, is a prime marketing tool – and not just for tourism.
Authenticity, AKA a believable past,
is an important promotional ingredient for food and beverage pro-ducts. Salsa made by, say, Egyptians in Australia, wouldn’t have the same cache as salsa made by Mexicans
in Mexico.
Here is another piece of pro-paganda: the best, most authentic extra virgin olive oil comes from Italy. Consumers certainly seem to believe this.
The truth is that Greece is the leading producer, not of olive oil in general, but of extra virgin olive oil. Yet most of the fine Greek oil
(and the fine Turkish, Spanish, Moroccan and Tunisian oils) ends up in Italy for rebottling, with the Italians enjoying much of the profit. Talk about a succesful propaganda campaign.
Then there is the so-called Medi-terranean Diet. The name is a misnomer. It actually refers to a diet that was studied by Ancel Keys in the 1960s, and again by Dr. Walter Willet of Harvard’s School of Public Health in the 1990s. Willet defines this diet as being based on "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and Southern Italy.”
The quality of the diet may be due not only to the composition of its components but to the nutritional properties of the components themselves. Yet there isn’t a country with a scrap of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea that doesn’t claim its products are authentic representatives of this diet.
Greece has not had an easy time defending itself against propaganda from other countries. Look at the furor over its objection to a country to its north calling itself Macedonia. Macedonia is a region of Greece, corresponding almost entirely to the Kingdom of Macedonia, as once ruled by Alexander the Great. This is a fact; it is not open to interpretation or negotiation. The boundries of the historic kingdom, delineated by natural elements such as rivers and mountains that still exist today,
were documented and described by writers of the time. The country to the north can name all the airports
it wants after Alex, but it still won’t change the fact that the man
was born in Pella, Central Macedonia, Greece. But who needs fact when fiction serves so much better?
Ellen Gooch
Editor in Chef |
