Episode 88 - Do Greeks have more in common with Arabs and Turks than Europeans | Sean Mathews | UNAPOLOGETIC

UNAPOLOGETIC with Ashfaaq Carim · Jul 30, 2026 · 1h 38m

We sat down with Middle East Eye journalist and author Sean Mathews on UNAPOLOGETIC to ask a question that unsettles a lot of assumptions: do Greeks actually have more in common with Arabs and Turks than they do with the rest of Europe?

Mathews is the author of The New Byzantines: The Rise of Greece and Return of the Near East, and his answer draws on years of reporting from Istanbul, Cairo and occupied Jerusalem.

He argues that Greece's "Western" identity is a relatively recent import, imposed from outside, and that the country's deeper roots, culturally, religiously and geopolitically, lie…