Category: political

President Joe Biden has done a good thing and it is important to give him credit. Under Joe Biden, the White House has finally recognized the Armenian Genocide. Too many Presidents from both parties lacked the courage and integrity to refer to the Genocide.

Joe Biden did the right thing and he deserves praise and commendation for doing so. The Turks murdered one and a half million Armenians (and two million more Greeks and Assyrians) during the First World War. In actuality, the Genocide of all these Christians originated in 1894 according to the historians Benny Morris and Dror Ze’ev, authors of the outstanding “The Thirty Year Genocide”.

Turkey up to the present remains a murderous and bloodthirsty state. Let us hope that Joe Biden’s courageous recognition of the Armenian Genocide leads to a change in foreign policy that will serve not only as the basis of his administrations foreign policy, but as the permanent policy of administrations that will follow his.

It is about time. This is a significant victory. Congratulations once more to Joe Biden for doing the right thing and to the Armenian American community who worked hard to achieve this recognition.

President Joe Biden has announced sanctions will be imposed on Russia in response to the alleged interference in the 2016 elections and in response to the alleged hacking of American government agencies. The Biden administration is taking the world back to the era of the cold war. One vividly remembers the fear of a potential nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. A return to the Cold War is something that no responsible or rational leader wants.

In the post Cold War era the United States had the world to itself. Indeed, American neoconservatives predicted after the fall of the Soviet Union that the US would have about twenty years to do as it wishes without having to worry about the Russians. The United States attempted to impose its ideological vision on the world in other countries. The invasion of Iraq turned out to be disastrous as were the American interventions in Libya and Syria.

It really is time to put ideology aside and to focus on reality. The Russians have put troops on the border with Ukraine in response to increasing hostility from the west. Joe Biden must abandon his narcissism and engage the Russians. The United States and NATO must recognize Russia as a sovereign country with legitimate interests around the world from Ukraine (which borders Russia) to Syria. If the United States adopted a friendlier posture toward Russia the atmosphere would likely improve.

Russia is a nuclear country which makes the escalation of tensions very dangerous. There is no question America and NATO have provoked the Russians by attacking Serbia when that Russian ally was weak and by expanding NATO to the Russian border. American officials from George W. Bush to the Clintons to Biden have extremely high opinions of themselves and view themselves as champions of democracy even in the aftermath of wars of devastation.

Such unrealistic visions of the world in the aftermath of the horrors of Iraq and Syria are proving to be extremely dangerous and irresponsible. Hillary Clinton compared Putin to Hitler. Biden recently called Putin a killer. These are irresponsible and dangerous names to call the Russian President. Such name calling serves to escalate the already tense relations with Russia by making the emerging conflict personal.

Sanctions should not be imposed on Russia. Talks should be held between Washington and Moscow and the US should be looking to clear the air and to deescalate tensions. It should be remembered that Russia did not intervene in Crimea until American neoconservatives and ideological fanatics such as Geoffrey Pyatt and Victoria Nuland participated in the overthrow of Ukraine’s government.

No sane or rational person wants an escalation of tensions with Russia. One would think American officials would rethink their approaches to foreign policy in the aftermath of the disasters that occurred in the Middle East. The Republican Party emerged as the voice of reason on Russian matters during the administration of Donald Trump.

The Republican Party should warn Biden against escalating tensions with Russia and should maintain Trump’s America first policies. If Biden wishes to adopt a hostile posture toward the Russians, the Republicans should make it clear that they will not support him.

Archbishop of America was invited by the Turkish Ambassador to the Turkish Consulate

The new Turkish Consul has invited Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese for a visit. The invitation may very well be innocent but when was the last time that any hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate met with any officials of the Russian government or even representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. The schism in Orthodoxy emanating from the Phanar’s meddling in Ukraine still threatens the unity of the Orthodox Church.

It would be interesting to find out what the Archbishop discussed with the Turkish Consul. Did the Archbishop protest the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque? It should be remembered that the Russian Orthodox Church and the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the real Ukrainian Church) condemned the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. Did the Archbishop discuss the Turkish occupation of Cyprus and the destruction of over five hundred Greek and Armenian Churches within the Turkish occupied territories?

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has been waving the Greek flag in the run up to the anniversary of Greek Independence. Did the Archbishop protest Turkish threats of war against Greece and Cyprus? It is interesting that this news item from the Orthodox Times did not mention any specifics discussed at the meeting.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has used nationalist rhetoric against the Russians since it invaded the canonical territory of the Russian Church in Ukraine. Let us see if the exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America expressed sentiments regarding Hellenism in his meeting with the Turkish Consul.

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfayev the top Church diplomat of the Russian Orthodox Church presided at a doxology in commemoration of Greek Independence Day. The doxology at a Russian Monastery was held for the remembrance of the souls of the Greeks who died fighting the Turks. Furthermore, Patriarch Kyril of Moscow and all Russia sent messages of congratulations to the Greek President on the two hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the Greek Revolution.

Furthermore, Metropolitan Onuphry the spiritual leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church likewise congratulated the Greeks on the anniversary of Greek Independence. Both the Russian Patriarch and the Ukrainian Metropolitan recalled the oppression of the Greeks under Turkish role and the bravery of the Greeks who fought for their freedom. These expressions of congratulations are indicative of the brotherly attitude toward the Greeks by both the Russians and Ukrainians.

Incidentally, there has been no noticeable statement regarding Greek Independence from Patriarch Bartholomew. The recognition of the pseudo bishops of Ukraine by the Churches of Constantinople and Greece is a mark of shame on the part of the Greek speaking Orthodox world. The brotherly statements of both the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox leaders should compel the Church of Greece in particular to withdraw its recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics.

There has been nothing but devastation to Orthodoxy in general and the Greek speaking world from the recognition of the Ukrainian pseudo bishops. Patriarch Bartholomew cares nothing about the damage to Orthodoxy. He also does not care about the Greek speaking Orthodox world either. Patriarch Bartholomew undertook his anti Russian actions under the cover of the Greek flag.

At the end of the day he is the enabler of the continued American domination of both Greek political and ecclesiastical affairs. It will take some time for Constantinople to reverse its errors in Ukraine. If the Patriarchate even survives. The State Department sees the Ecumenical Patriarchate as an instrument in which to attack the Russians for the time being. Washington will not do anything to help the Patriarchate in its position in Turkey over the long term.

While it does not seem that the Church of Greece will reverse its position on Ukraine now, there is a much better chance of the Athens synod reversing its stances than that of Constantinople. The day of March 25, 2021 was a glorious day when the world recognized the Greek heroism that started two hundred years ago.

It is a shame that the Greek anniversary occurred under the shadow of the schism within Orthodoxy. The Greek speaking world must remember the example of Saint Mark of Ephesus who realized that the preservation of Constantinople would matter for little or nothing if the Greek Orthodox repudiated the faith of Christ as was done by the hierarchy at the Council of Florence.

Greece today confronts many difficult problems. Fidelity to the faith of Christ and those of the holy fathers is the surest way of both enduring and confronting the difficulties that the Greeks face today. The bishops of Greece should look to the examples of both Saint Mark of Ephesus as well as Patriarch Gregory V who was martyred after the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence.

Patriarch Gregory V was an Orthodox traditionalist much like Saint Mark. It should also be remembered the legendary General Kolokotronis was a staunch Russophile and the leader of the Russian Party in Greece. Greece’s first President was John Capodistrias who had served as Russian Foreign Minister.

There is much that the Greeks and the Russians have in common spiritually, historically, and politically. The Russian expressions of congratulations toward the Greeks even as the Greek Churches have caused the Russian Church great pain is demonstrative of the realities of Greek-Russian brotherhood.

An Orthodox Church in Romania was desecrated with the symbols of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and the LGBTQ movement. The front walls of the entrance of the Church were desecrated along with the icons that appear on the front walls. The desecration of the Church fully exposes the lunacy of these three groups.

First of all, it is unclear why a chapter of Black Lives Matter is needed in Romania. Romanians have nothing to do with the murder of George Floyd or the racial problems in America. The followers of these movements are simply incapable of logic or reason which is why they have committed what can only be construed as a hate crime.

The leaders of the American Black Lives Matter have openly admitted that they are a Marxist organization. This makes the desecration of the Church even more repugnant. The Romanian Orthodox Church suffered under communist rule for nearly forty five years before communism fell. Marxist radicals never really change or reform.

The stupidity of the desecration of the Church can also be seen by the fact that all chapters of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and the LGBTQ movements everywhere will continue to anger and offend people. A movement that is based on outraging people cannot succeed. A perfect example of this is the Golden Party in Greece, the Neo-Nazi movement that found limited success in Greece and proceeded to promote Holocaust denial and anti semitism inside the Greek Parliament. Eventually, this party lost all support and is nearly extinct.

Serious political movements tend to engage society and promote discussions. Black Lives Matter and Antifa promote the lethal ideology of Marxism-Leninism but lack the necessary organization and sophistication that the real Bolsheviks in Russia had that enabled them to come to power. At this point they are a caricature of the real thing.

In any case, Christianity is deeply engrained in Orthodox countries and the Romanian people are not likely to be amused or pleased with the desecration of Churches. Black Lives Matter and Antifa are morally and intellectually bankrupt with no ability to understand any perspective that is not their own.

The LGBTQ movement has been far more successful in America and Europe and appears to be a greater concern for Christians. This movement is in a strong position to emerge as the real persecutor of the Church. A far worse persecution than desecrating Churches (horrible as those actions are).

The LGBTQ movement has been able to win over political and legislative support throughout the western world supporting the indoctrination of children into trans ideology and suggesting that employers and others who refuse to go along with this nefarious agenda are discriminating. The desecration of the Romanian Church comes less than a decade after the attack on the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow by the notorious “Pussy riot”.

The extreme left has declared war on Christianity. In this they are supported by western governments and officials, and the worlds media. The desecration of the Romanian Church is a warning to all Christians everywhere.

President Joe Biden has begun provoking tensions with Russia just as many feared would happen in the event of a Democratic Presidential victory. Biden insulted President Vladimir Putin by calling him a “killer”. Several years ago, Hillary Clinton had compared Putin to Hitler. The insult directed against the Russian President demonstrates again that the Democratic Party has been so wholly consumed by ideology that all forms of diplomacy and politeness that are crucial in international affairs have been completely abandoned.

The Russians have called their Ambassador to Washington home for consultations. This may very well signal a crisis in relations with Russia. Even in the aftermath of an election victory, the Democrats remain angry over their loss in the previous elections of 2016. President Donald Trump for all his flaws and mistakes will be remembered as a great statesman who attempted to pull America out of foreign wars and sought friendly relations with Russia and even North Korea.

The Democrats have been scapegoating Russia for four years and will continue to do so in the White House. This foreshadows a dangerous escalation of tensions with Russia. Russia is a nuclear power that should be taken very seriously. Childish name calling is terrible diplomacy and is indicative of the childlike mentality of the President.

Joe Biden has contributed immensely to the deterioration of American relations with Russia. As a Senator, Biden was a strong champion of the bombing of Serbia and the detaching of Kosovo from that Orthodox country. Kosovo is the spiritual capital of the Serbian Orthodox Church with Serbia’s most important Churches and Monasteries.

Back in 1999, the Russians were in no position to challenge the Clinton administrations aggression against Serbia. Things have changed dramatically since drunken Boris Yeltsin left office in Russia. The Biden family has been involved in shady dealings in Ukraine. Biden’s son Hunter was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company despite having no experience in the field of gas and energy, and no particular expertise in Ukrainian affairs.

Joe Biden himself bragged that as Vice President he threatened to terminate much needed aid to Ukraine if that government did not fire the prosecutor that was investigating Hunter Biden’s company. The 2020 coup attempt against President Donald Trump by the Democrats in Congress was largely the result of the involvement of the Biden family’s shady dealings with Ukraine.

Former President Trump asked the Ukrainian government for help in investigating Hunter Biden. For this innocent request, Trump was nearly impeached. Joe Biden has a conflict of interest in the conducting of American foreign policy. His family’s involvement in Ukraine undermine his credibility and demonstrates an inherent bias against Russia.

Things have changed since Kosovo was detached from Serbia. In 2014, the Obama-Biden administration and its unscrupulous representatives such as Victoria Nuland and Geoffrey Pyatt (current Governor of, sorry “Ambassador” to Greece) supported the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected government and the installation of a rabidly anti Russian one. Furthermore, the Obama-Biden administration decided to attack Syria which like Serbia is a traditional Russian ally.

The Russians demonstrated both in Syria and Ukraine that Washington is no longer in the position to impose itself on the rest of the world. Russia is again a great power and should be respected as such. Real Statesman do not lose their composure and think before speaking and when referring to foreign leaders speak diplomatically.

Joe Biden has just demonstrated why he is completely unfit to serve as President.

Unprecedented images by protesters against Orthodoxy in Athens (VIDEO)

The video in the link above says a good deal about what is wrong in Greece. Greek anarchists have been demonstrating in favor of a Greek terrorist who is on a hunger strike because he prefers to be in a different prison. The terrorist in question is responsible for eleven murders including Greek officials and American, British, and Turkish diplomats.

This is the cause that Greek anarchists have chosen to adopt for themselves. In the video to the link above Greek youth who have been indoctrinated in extreme left ideology can be seen desecrating an icon of the Mother of God. The icon of the Holy Theotokos and her son our God and savior Jesus Christ can be desecrated by these pathetic left wing cultists.

They are demonstrating for a murderer and a proponent of Marxist ideology while denouncing Christianity which sustained the Greek nation during the centuries of Turkocratia. The historically illiterate brats live in a democratic country like Greece. Perhaps they should go live in North Korea or Cuba to find out how good communism is.

This pathetic rabble is indicative of everything that has gone wrong in Greece. The Greek government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis has so far refused to relent to the demands of the terrorist who is on hunger strike. The Greek government owes him nothing. If he chooses to commit suicide by refusing to eat that is his business.

Greek governments in the past have not been tough enough on the lawlessness and mayhem caused by the extreme left in Athens. When the anarchists desecrate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos it is time to crack down and impose the rule of the law on the spoiled Marxist brats. Greece is a Christian country and real Greeks will fight to defend Greek Orthodox values.

What an utter disgrace that the icon of the panagia is desecrated while the youth of Greece go out of their way to demonstrate in favor of a terrorist. The heroes of 1821 weep at this appalling sight!

The year 2021 will mark three anniversaries regarding the Hellenic speaking world. First, 2021 will mark the two hundredth anniversary of the Greek War of Independence. After many centuries of oppression under Turkish rule, the Greeks revolted in a heroic struggle which took many years and the shedding of blood and finally established the modern Greek state. March 25 will mark a glorious celebration of the Greek War of Independence.

A second anniversary comes on August 26 with the nine hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert. On that day in 1071, the Byzantine armies of Emperor Romanus Diogenes lost a battle that continues to have consequences for the Hellenic world up to the present. Half of Anatolia fell to the Turks and although it took four centuries to come about, Manzikert made the fall of Constantinople inevitable.

A third anniversary can be seen with the closure of the theological school of Halki by the Turkish authorities in 1971. These three anniversaries are worth analyzing and discussing in the present day context of problems facing the Hellenic speaking world. At present, Greece faces either a possible existential threat at the hands of the Turks or the possibility of the loss of islands and genocide in the event of a Turkish invasion of any Greek islands.

The Greek War of Independence was a glorious achievement that resulted from the tireless efforts of Greeks to throw off the Turkish yoke. It set the stage for the subsequent expansion of the Greek state. In 1864, Greece received the Ionian islands and in 1881, the region of Thessaly was ceded to Greece by the great powers.

In the aftermath of the heroic victories of the Balkan Wars, Greece liberated Macedonia, Epirus, and Crete. The era of the liberation period in Greek history came to an end with the rise of Mustafa Kemal in Turkey (through the backing of the western powers and the Soviet communists) who presided over the extermination of all Christian Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians throughout Anatolia. The remaining Greeks in Turkey (Constantinople, Imbros, Tenedos) would be ethnically cleansed following the pogroms of 1955 and the ethnic cleansing campaigns of the 1960’s.

In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Greek Cypriots form their homes. In the aftermath of the present day realities of the continued occupation of Cyprus and the threats to Greek and Cypriot territorial rights, the memory of the Battle of Manzikert looms large. After Maznikert, the Seljuk Turks appeared to be an unstoppable force.

Byzantine efforts to stop the Turks were temporarily successful after the Emperor Alexios Comnenos made agreements with the Crusaders (a very sinister pact in itself) but over the long term Byzantium was unable to hold the line against the Seljuk Turks. In 1204, Constantinople was invaded and occupied by the Knights of the Fourth Crusade. That invasion and long occupation destroyed the Christian Empire and destroyed forever any ability to resist or forestall the advancing Turkish forces.

In 1303, Sultan Osman came to the Turkish throne and it was from this Sultan that the Ottoman Empire was named. The Ottomans advanced steadily over a period of time as Constantinople lost more and more territory. During the disastrous reign of John Cantacuzenos during the 1350’s, the Empire hired the Ottomans as mercenaries to fight the Serbs! The Ottomans established a foothold in the Balkans.

Despite diplomatic efforts by the Emperor Manuel Paleologos who travelled to England and France in the early 1400’s, no western help arrived. In 1439, Emperor John Paleologos submitted to the demands of the Latin Pope and abandoned Orthodoxy in order to save Constantinople. That effort ended in humiliation and disaster!

Constantinople fell and the era of Turkocratia was ushered in. Constantine Paleologos and the defenders of Constantinople fought honorably and with great bravery but they did not have the number of fighters needed in order to prevail. In 1821, the Greeks revolted and for a century the Hellenic world came alive again through the expansion of Greece which began liberating Greek populations in the Balkans.

The liberation of Greece after the War of Independence was not without its problems. From the very beginning, Great Britain and Germany began interfering in Greek domestic affairs. This set a precedent for the United States which intervenes in Greek domestic affairs at the present time.

The third anniversary of the Hellenic speaking world in 2021 comes with the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the theological school of Halki. The closing of Halki occurred within the context of the anti Greek pogroms of 1955 and the ethnic cleansing of the Greek Orthodox populations of Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos during the 1960’s. Halki was closed so that the Turkish government could expel the Patriarchate and be rid of all Greek Orthodox inhabitants once and for all.

When the present Ecumenical Patriarch was elected in 1991 (here is yet a fourth anniversary the Hellenic speaking Orthodox world will commemorated in 2021) his top priority was the opening of the Halki School of theology. Despite widespread international attention on this issue, Turkey has refused to open Halki. The Patriarchate’s position it can be said has both improved and worsened in the past thirty years.

On the one level, it appeared the Patriarchate’s position increased by the diplomatic activity at the Ecumenical Patriarchate which brought a measure of protection from the Turkish authorities. Despite this however, the Ecumenical Patriarch became the target of terrorists who on several occasions bombed the Patriarchate while on other occasions Turkish officers conspired to assassinate both the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Armenian Patriarch. The Ecumenical Patriarchate’s position decreased (perhaps fatally) when it made the horrible decision to “grant” autocephaly to the uncanonical schismatic “Church” factions in Ukraine in 2018.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate created a schism in Orthodoxy and has succeeded (with the help of the State Department) in compromising the Churches of Greece and Alexandria both of whom have established communion with an illegitimate ecclesiastical entity whose hierarchy and clergy have no valid ordinations or consecrations. This is now the context in which the Hellenic world finds itself in.

On the year of the anniversaries, the Hellenic speaking world faces one crisis after the other. Throughout the centuries of Ottoman rule, Greece survived because of Orthodoxy. As Greece faces threats to its existence as a result of Turkish expansionism, the Greek Churches need to restore their standing within the Orthodox communion by revoking their recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics and reconciling with the greater Orthodox world.

https://sallux.eu/Sallux%20-%20European%20security,%20Turkish%20aggression%20and%20Article%205%20NATO%20-%20WEB.pdf

The above is a link to an outstanding analysis of the problems that western security interests have with Turkey. It is an almost unprecedented analysis of the history of Turkey and the problems that it has been creating under the Erdogan regime. It is very welcome in referencing the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides as well as referring to Turkish aggression against Armenia, Cyprus, and Greece.

The article correctly recounts Turkey’s long support for ISIS and its support for Islamic extremists and points out the regimes desire to expand to create a new Ottoman Empire. The article in detail recounts Turkey’s interventions in Armenia, Syria, and Libya and refers to the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. Where the analysis starts to run out of gas is in its conclusion that NATO should simply withdraw its guarantee of support in the event that Turkey is attacked.

While this conclusion is well intended, in point of fact will do nothing to deter Turkish aggression. Turkey needs to be expelled from NATO and cut off entirely from the European Union. Turkey does not face any external threats so the threat to withdraw guarantees to its defense has minimal consequences for Ankara. NATO has to go all the way to expel Turkey outright.

In the event that Turkish-Russian relations go cold perhaps this will make a difference but for the time being Turkey faces no real threat. Russia is referred to in the article and it is suggested that western governments fear expelling Turkey from NATO because they believe Russia will gain Turkey as an ally. The authors of the article however discount this conclusion.

The article does suggest that NATO and Europe are taking the Turkish threat more seriously than previously thought. Hopefully, they will come to conclude that appeasement of Turkey does not work and that Turkey should be expelled permanently from NATO and all associations with the European Union should be terminated. Ultimately, it is quite possible that NATO could very well be compelled to declare war on Turkey. The article rightly lists Turkey’s numerous offenses against the Kurds and in Syria.

The article is definitely worth reading.

http://humanrightscolumbia.org/peace-building/atrocities-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh

The Program on peace building and human rights at Columbia University has published a report (see the link above) on human rights violations perpetrated by Azerbaijan against Armenia. Azerbaijani aggression (with the backing of Turkey) was responsible for the war with Armenia. The failure of the international community to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable may have set a precedent for Greece.

As Turkish aggression remains a problem for both Greece and Cyprus, Athens needs to examine the injustice suffered by the Armenians. Nagorno Karabakh is a territory with an Armenian majority and is rightly ruled by the Armenians. Armenians refuse to be led by any Turkish Republics and have fought hard to maintain Armenian rule over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenians however did not receive the kind of support they needed from either the United States or Russia. This indicates that Turkey is still immune from any real pressure despite the triumph of radical jihadism in Turkey, and despite the fact that Turkey and Azerbaijan have cooperated closely with Syrian jihadists. Greece has to keep in mind that neither of the great powers appears willing at this point to challenge Turkey.

Greece must begin using diplomatic leverage to pressure Washington and Moscow to stop supporting Turkey. Recently, Russian Orthodox priests went so far as to bless the nuclear power plant that Russia has helped to build in Turkey. The whole Church question in Ukraine has complicated Greek-Russian relations but the Russians should be a little more sensitive to the plight of Armenian and Greek Christians who are on the receiving end of Turkish expansionism and aggression.

Greece closest friend and ally is Armenia. Greek officials use their influence (assuming they have any) at the European Union to lobby on behalf of the Armenian cause in the caucuses and to condemn Azerbaijani aggression. The government in Baku made its own hostility to Greece apparent when the Greek Ambassador presenting his credentials to the host country’s President was insulted and derided. The Azerbaijani President made clear that Azerbaijan supported Turkey in all conflicts with Greece.

Greece should be using its leverage with Washington and Moscow not only to promote Greek issues, but Armenian issues as well. Greek and Armenian interests coincide both nations are likely to suffer the same fate in the event that Turkish ambitions are ever realized at the expense of Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia.