Dear Sir,
One of the most admirable aspects of the foreign policy of the Trump administration was the former President’s willingness to challenge the Islamic State. That murderous organization was responsible for the genocide of the Christians of Syria and Iraq. The fates of the Christians of Syria and Iraq occurred one century after the Turks perpetrated genocide against millions of Christian Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians in Anatolia. Prominent American officials during that time documented the genocide of the Christians. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau who served in Constantinople was very active in condemning the slaughter of the Christians, as were other American officials such as the American Consul to Smyrna George Horton. Horton wrote a book about the Genocide of the Christians called “The Blight of Asia”.
Other prominent Americans of the time included Edward Hale Bierstadt who wrote a book called, “The Great Betrayal” documenting how western foreign policy betrayed the Christians and colluded with the murderous Turkish Army of Mustafa Kemal. Horton himself who served in the city of Smyrna documented the deliberate policy of the Turkish Kemalists to massacre the Christian populations. This is important for America today because there is still an opportunity to rescue American foreign policy interests from the Turks who have way too much influence over the foreign policy establishment.
Turkey is clearly emerging as the jihadist power in the Middle East and is gradually becoming the successor to the now defeated “Caliphate”. Turkey is now directing other jihadist states such as Azerbaijan in its war of aggression against Armenia. The Azerbaijani war against Armenia last year resulted in the occupation of Armenian territory and subsequent atrocities against Armenian soldiers and civilians alike. The rise of both Turkey and Azerbaijan diminishes the defeat of the Islamic State as new jihadist entities are arising in their stead.
Turkey has been using Syrian jihadists to fight on the Azerbaijani side against the Armenians. This makes Turkey a sponsor of jihadist terrorism. Previous to this, Turkey was a supporter of the Islamic State. Columbia University in New York published an entire report detailing the support that Ankara gave to the Caliphate at the height of its murderous reign. Turkey has also been using Syrian terrorists as proxies in Libya. The latest news on Turkey is that it is using child soldiers in its various military campaigns. Child soldiers have been used repeatedly by jihadist movements including Islamic State and the Taliban.
In addition to posing a threat toward the Christian nation of Armenia, Turkey poses a significant threat to Greece and Cyprus. Turkey has openly claimed the islands of Greece which have been populated by ethnic Greeks since classical times. In the territories of Cyprus which Turkey has occupied since Ankara invaded that island Republic in 1974, over 200,000 Greek Cypriots were ethnically cleansed and over five hundred and fifty Greek and Armenian Churches and Monasteries have been destroyed.
The foreign policy establishment has always supported Turkey and continues to back Ankara despite its proven record as a jihadist supporter of terrorism. American foreign policy reform is long overdue. American foreign policy should emphasize the human rights of Christians living in the Near East as well as the security of Christian countries such as Armenia, Cyprus, and Greece. American diplomacy was once served by honorable men such as Henry Morgenthau and George Horton who were advocates for oppressed Christians under the Islamic rule of the Turks. Unfortunately, their moral voices lost out to the anti Christian interests of the establishment which remain in effect up to the present day.
America has an interest in the survival of Christian communities and homelands from the increasingly aggressive designs of jihadist Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Theodore G. Karakostas