Politics
In its early years, the Air Force was considered politically right-wing and royalist; indeed, it was known as the "Royal Hellenic Air Force". However, its officer corps proved to be the most politically left-wing of the Armed Forces. During the Greek Civil War, the officers of the Greek Army denounced their Air Force counterparts as "leftists" and "communists" and considered them disloyal and unreliable. During the Regime of the Colonels, the Air Force aided King Constantine in his failed countercoup of December 1967, and many leading Air Force Generals were tortured by the ESA men of Dimitrios Ioannidis. The only Air Force officer that had a significant role in the dictatorial regime was Antonis Skarmaliorakis. After Andreas Papandreou and his Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party came to power in 1981, ending a long conservative dominance of Greek politics, the Air Force officers proved to be Papandreou's most enthusiastic allies in the Armed Forces. Andreas returned the favor, and in 1984, he made an Air Force General the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, the first time someone from the Air Force rose to occupy that position. In 1997, it was estimated that more than half of the Air Force officer corps were PASOK supporters.
Read more about this topic: Hellenic Air Force
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the mud stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records unique, violin player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Political organizations have slowly substituted themselves for the Churches as the places for believing practices.... Politics has once again become religious.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)