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Ah, well...
Posted By: Bry <bmulheran@gmail.com>	Date: 1/1/13 1:50 p.m.
In Response To: Angry Joe's Top 10 Gaming Controversies of 2012 (SonGoharotto) : #1 is of far more concern to me. We can bitch about these little gaming : 'injustices' all we want, but here are two men who have been wrongly : imprisoned in a foreign country under false charges, to make a political : statement. Where's the outrage for them? Do we just not care because they : aren't Americans? They should have known better to be honest. Because this isn't the first time. Just a few years ago, there was an almost identical incident in Greece 11 years ago where planespotters were arrested under similar charges. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1950198.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1953132.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1953654.stm I've been to many of the Greek islands and I can tell you there are lots of very clear signs around military areas telling you that photography is strictly forbidden and they have a zero tolerance policy about anyone doing so. It's not that the charges are false, it's that the law in Greece on this matter is very different from what we're more familiar with. This kind of policy isn't unique to Greece either. That's not to say it's strictly right and common sense should be applied by the authorities, but believe me, taking photos of Greek military facilities or structures is a massive no-no. It cannot be understated just how seriously they take it, and that's exactly what they were doing. The reason isn't very relevant in the context of the law (but this is where common sense comes into things). It might not be common knowledge, but tensions between Greece and Turkey remain very high ever since Turkey invaded Cyprus and took the Northern half of the country by force in the 70's. To this day there is a patrolled UN buffer zone between the the North and South of Cyprus, plus there is a significant British military presence at the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia to help keep the peace (during the invasion, RAF Lightnings based on Cyprus, but neutral to the actual conflict, 'discouraged' a number of Turkish bombers from carrying out their missions). Despite that, clashes between the two nations happen on a regular basis over the Aegean Sea. These recordings are genuine intercepts and dogfights with real weapons being carried. They are routine in their frequency. However there have been losses in these tense dogfights were planes have collided with each other while trying to see an advantage (they tend to be F-16 vs F-16 engagements). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/may/24/turkey.topstories3 tl:dr This isn't exactly a simple situation, nor is it by any means unprecedented so it would be wrong to assume that this is just because the Greeks are trying to distract people from the disaster that is their economy. Going to any location in Greece with a camera and taking photos of military structures or anything at all around the designated military zones is asking for trouble, and believe me, they do warn you about it. The reason it doesn't happen more often is because most people don't ignore the signs! (on reflection, this is a pretty political reply to a mostly political post, so I should probably delete it... but at the same time it's some important information in relation to the creation of the topic... Insert you GI Joe quote here)

Message Index

Angry Joe's Top 10 Gaming Controversies of 2012	SonGoharotto	1/1/13 12:20 p.m.
Ah, well...	Bry	1/1/13 1:50 p.m.
Re: Ah, well...	Quirel	1/1/13 1:54 p.m.
No worries	SonGoharotto	1/1/13 2:01 p.m.
No no no	Bry	1/1/13 2:42 p.m.
Re: No no no	bluerunner	1/1/13 4:04 p.m.
My mistake *NM*	SonGoharotto	1/1/13 5:53 p.m.
Can I marry you?	Grizzlei	1/2/13 11:44 a.m.
Re: Can I marry you?	SonofMacPhisto	1/2/13 12:00 p.m.
Really?	Bry	1/2/13 12:45 p.m.
Re: Really?	SonofMacPhisto	1/2/13 5:35 p.m.