The writer Petros Màrkaris (Istanbul, 1937) is one of the great masters of the Mediterranean noir novel, along with Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and the Italian Andrea Camilleri. Father of the famous Greek commissioner Kostas Jaritos, Márkaris is also one of the great minds of the country, and he does not hesitate to bring to his novels the problems that affect the Greeks, from the economic crisis to the poverty left by the pandemic . At the age of 86, he receives La Vanguardia at his home, in the center of Athens, still shaken by the historic floods that have devastated central Greece.
How was this summer in Athens?
It has been an absolute tragedy and an absolute disaster. First the heat. I settled in Athens in 1964. I don't remember any other summer as warm as this year. The second was the fires. All the forests in northeastern Greece have died. They are all burned. And not only there, also in Attica. After all this comes the floods. There must be a curse; if not, I don't understand!
Whose fault is it?
When we talk about fires, I have to tell you that Greece has a long tradition and experience with forest fires. There is, therefore, a great responsibility of the Government, the regional administrations and the town councils, who never took the necessary measures. But the floods... it's the first time. Let's be frank. It's not something we have experience with. Nobody was ready.
The Government of Kiriakos Mitsotakis attributes these disasters to the climate crisis.
If you see what is also happening in Spain, in Italy, in Hawaii... there is no doubt that there is a big problem called climate change and in the last decade it has become more and more aggressive. And everyone looks the other way. Especially governments, who care only about economic growth. There are only groups of young people fighting against everyone. I fear that what we used to know as the Mediterranean climate and Mediterranean nature will eventually disappear.
Has there been a lack of prevention?
In the case of fires, everyone knows that after a fire, great measures must be taken to prevent the next one, and no one does anything because leaving things as they are is profitable for making money, building houses and making profits. It is something that has a history, that is not new. No Greek government has ever taken the appropriate measures for fear of losing support. As long as personal goals take priority, we will not get results.
All this is happening in a country that was finally emerging from the severe financial crisis. Then came the pandemic, the effects of the war...
From 2009 to today we have never had a respite. It's been fourteen years since we've had one disaster after another. The economic crisis, let's face it, was partly our fault. The pandemic was not a uniquely Greek problem, but a universal one. But my generation never anticipated that this country that was so beautiful would end up in this situation. Before I was listening to old people talking and psychologically it is disastrous, because one of the few privileges of Greece was a mild climate. Now we have nothing left.
Have the Greek citizens resigned themselves to it?
There is a decline in interest in politics, especially among the new generations. They are not involved, and not even interested. I think it's a big mistake and it's something that will have consequences. Both in my generation and the next, the interest in politics was great. This is no longer the case. We grew up in a society with many different values, and now our societies have only one value, which is money. It is a dangerous thing, and we see it in how humanistic studies are being lost. Everyone thinks that if you study technology, economics, business administration, you will have a high salary. The reality, however, is that in the US they have six-month contracts.
Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that these young people were educated in a severe economic crisis.
Yes, these young people have grown up during the crisis and that means they have grown up in families with very complicated conditions. This makes them think that the sooner they find a job that gives them secure money the better. Another problem is that they now have to stay at their parents' house until they are forty.
In the last elections, the Greek right won with a large majority. Because?
Because many Syriza voters were disappointed with the party and returned to the safe side. Syriza, and this was their big mistake, promised that they would change Europe and put an end to the memorandums and hold referendums, and then they had to abide by all the conditions.
No creu que Kiriakos Mitsotakis ho fes bé?
He did well in what any other centre-right politician would have done well. His great privilege is that, unlike Alexis Tsipras, he found a friendlier atmosphere within the European Union. There have been scandals in his party, but also in others, and if you live in Greece you are prepared to see scandals.
He has written about the crisis and the covid pandemic. What are you writing about now?
On the struggle between humanistic and economic studies. I might write about climate change next, I don't know.
What would Kostas Jaritos do?
I haven't asked him yet!
Thinking about retiring?
As long as my mind helps me with ideas, I will continue to write.
