Will it be Labour camps next in Greece? The idea of special debtors’ prisons for people behind with their taxes has been on the table in Greece for some time now. “We all made jokes about having a bed to sleep in & 3 squares a day, not to mention electricity & companionship,” one Athenian wag told me. But now the idea seems to have moved on: I’m told that some disused army camps have been re-occupied in rural areas, and the idea will be for debtors to work in the fields to repay what they owe. In short, Labour Camps.

Thus the rich tax evaders get to put millions into numbered Swiss accounts, and the poor folks paying up instead (and unable to keep up) get to do forced labour. These people are insane.

Democratic Left to quit Greek coalition. The Democratic Left (DIMAR) under Fotis Kouvelis will almost certainly quit the Samaras Coalition this morning – despite a complete U-turn while at the same time backing down by Samaras, who confirmed he has agreed to the rehiring of as many as 2,000 of the 2,656 old ERT employees. They will not, however, be allowed to do “sinful” stuff any more – draw wages, charge expenses and so forth.

Talking of expenses, Samaras praised 39-megaton PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos for saying that “some assume the full responsibility of governing, and some are only there some of the time” in a rebuke aimed at DIMAR. Fair comment: Evangelos is there 24/7, and never misses a meal.

Merkel thinks Erdogan is a turkey. Ah yes, it’s coming back to me now: all those trolls who called me racist for knocking Cameron’s pro-Erdogan speech, said I was a bigot for calling Erdogan a closet Islamist, ignored me when I said he hated Israel but adored Ahmadinnejhad, denied he had any opponents in prison….where have they all gone we wonder?

Anyway, it seems at last to have got through to the Euromad that Recep is off his trolley, but the truth is that Angela Merkel has never liked the idea of Turkey in the EU: she doesn’t see the Turks as European (I mean, they’re just Gästarbeiter right?) and – more sensibly – she thinks it would be potty to give EU passports to Islamists. Anyway, this week Geli criticised Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s heavy-handed response to weeks of anti-government protests, and refused to agree to open a new negotiation area.

Erdogan gave his normal, measured and calm response. “If Mrs Merkel looks into it she will see that those who mess about with Turkey do not have an auspicious end,” he said. That’s the way ter do it, Mr Punch!

In truth, much of the unrest in Ankara is related to the Economic Miracle enacted by Recep the Wise which, as The Slog told everyone two years ago, is a lead plane propelled by rubber bands. The real smoke signal here is that, like everyone else, Erdogan is running out of road….and credit.

Last night at The Slog: The seven reasons why economic forecasts are always wrong