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.

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

This is an excerpt from an executive order that came down from the White House. What this is saying is that boys in school who consider themselves to be girls should have access to the girls room, the girls locker room, and should be able to participate in girls sports. This is exactly what many of us feared was going to happen in the event of a democratic victory in Presidential elections. Without defending the attack on the Capital, one can honestly say that Donald Trump has already been missed.

From a conservative-libertarian standpoint, all consenting adults should be free to live as they like. This includes the right to have whatever surgery they like. The problem here is that this radical agenda is being imposed on the rest of society including children. It is an established fact of reality that a man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man.

If some people believe otherwise that is their right and it is their right to “transition” if they so desire. But they do not have the right to force the rest of us to abandon reality. They most certainly do not have the right to impose this agenda on children. Some years back the Democrats used to accuse the Republicans of waging a “war on women”.

That was amusing then considering that accusation was coming from the party of Bill Clinton and the Kennedys. That accusation is even more bizarre and hypocritical coming from a party that has supported permitting men to use the ladies room. Not being content with permitting men to use the ladies room, they are now ready to send boys into girls restrooms and locker rooms.

This is why it is difficult from a Greek Orthodox standpoint not to view the Democrats as a threat to freedom of worship. Christians believe that God has made man in his own image. Male and female he created them, as the Book of Genesis tells us. Any believing Christian (or Muslim or Jew) that objects to this madness is going to be considered a “transphobe”. Public life for Christians (and non Christians) has just gotten more difficult.

With the coming to power of the Biden administration, voices from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in New York have responded with great enthusiasm. One does not not need to elaborate any further on this particular fact.

One recalls reading an issue of Time Magazine in 2016 to read about the Russian Presidents visit to Mount Athos. Another article in that same magazine had an article from a woman who wrote about her “pregnant brother”. The article was accompanied by a picture of a bearded woman breastfeeding an infant.

That is when the secularists and “social progressives” completely lost their minds. Normal people whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or atheists have always recognized a reality common to all. That it is impossible for men to get pregnant and to give birth.

Normal people recognize that an individual who can get pregnant and give birth is a woman! This fact should have confirmed the trans movement as farce. A woman who “transitions” into a man and gives birth is ultimately a woman because MEN DO NOT GIVE BIRTH!!!

Rather than bowing to reality, the political left chose to declare war on reality by insisting that men can in fact give birth. Furthermore, the political left and the lunatics who now control the Democratic Party consider people who live in reality to be “transphobic” because we do not believe men can give birth or that men and boys should be using female restrooms and locker rooms.

The Biden administration has just taken a shot at those who adhere to the Christian faith. The pagan agenda of the Democratic Party is being unveiled.

Postscript

Message to Donald Trump. All is forgiven. Fight Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, stay healthy, and run again in 2024.

President elect Joe Biden has been embraced by many Greeks and even media in Greece seem to have embraced the myth that Biden will conduct a pro Greek foreign policy. The problem here is that very few have actually done a real analysis of Biden’s foreign policy advocacy and the past record of the Democratic Party on Greek issues. There are serious obstacles facing Greek-American relations under the incoming Biden administration.

In the past, Democratic administrations have not been good for Greece. For example, the Carter administration despite proclaiming a pro human rights foreign policy lifted the arms embargo on Turkey that Congress imposed after the Turkish invasions of Cyprus during the summer of 1974. Furthermore, Bill Clinton promised he would not recognize the former Yugoslav Republic of Skopje with the name of Macedonia (more on the significance of this below).

The Clinton administration had the chance to demonstrate its friendly stance toward Greece on January 31, 1996 when Turkey claimed the islet of Imia in the Aegean Sea. Treaties and maps showed that this islet was Greek. However, Turkey’s strategic position outweighed Greece’s territorial rights in the eyes of the foreign policy established and Greece was forced to stand down against Turkish aggression. In August 1996, Cypriot protesters Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou were murdered in cold blood by Turkish occupation forces and no effort was ever made to bring their murderers to trial.

Like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama made promises to the Greeks. In early 2009, Obama travelled to Turkey and met with Patriarch Bartholomew but he met with the Patriarch in a hotel room away from media. Furthermore, Obama insulted Greece by comparing the treatment of Greek Christians in Turkey with the Muslims of west Thrace who are prospering. Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insulted Greece by saying the same thing to Archbishop Demetrios of America.

Returning to Clinton’s recognition of Skopje with the name of Macedonia. Greek interests were subordinated to the perceived greater interests of the Balkans at that particular time. The Clinton administration was intent on supporting Croatia and Bosnia against Serbia. The anti-Serbian foreign policy meant a pro Turkish foreign policy as Ankara was supporting Bosnia and shared the Clinton administrations foreign policy.

Therefore, Greek interests over the name of Macedonia were not considered important. In addition, Serbia was Greece’s closest ally in the region having fought with the Greeks in the Balkan Wars and both World Wars. The Clinton administration wanted Greece to be anti Serbian and was not interested in hearing about Turkey. Sound familiar?

The anti Russian hysteria today is similar to the anti Serbian hysteria of the 1990’s. Joe Biden has always been and remains a supporter of the foreign policy establishment because he follows what others tell him unlike Donald Trump who formulated his own foreign policy. Biden was a supporter of going to war with Serbia during the 1990’s, supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and is a supporter of provoking tensions with Russia.

Biden is considered an expert on foreign policy and once sat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Despite this, he is not a foreign policy expert. He is a politician with no historical knowledge or understanding of other countries. In this, he shares the ignorance and lack of sophistication of George W. Bush.

The American foreign policy establishment with the full support of the Democratic Party, the dominant left wing media, and others is fully intent on pursuing an anti Russian foreign policy. The problems that Greece and Cyprus face from an aggressive Turkey will be subordinated to the Biden administration’s anti Russian policies.

The intervention of the State Department in Church affairs in Ukraine is an example of what is ahead for Greece. Greece and Cyprus are intended to be on board for Washington’s anti Russian agenda. As with with the case of Serbia during the 1990’s, Turkey is going to be considered an ally against the Russians.

Historically, Turkey has always been a beneficiary of anti Russian hysteria. This can be seen by the outbreak of anti Russian hysteria in Great Britain at the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853 in which the British and French backed the Ottoman Empire over Russia. During the Cold War, Turkey was considered an important ally against the Soviet Union and so in all likelihood the Biden administration will at least attempt to improve relations with Turkey in pursuit of an anti Russian coalition.

Whether the Erdogan government is willing to change its foreign policy to take part in such a coalition is uncertain. Perhaps the Erdogan government will refuse which will be a good thing for Greece and Cyprus. However, in the short term it can be reasonably asserted that Joe Biden is no friend of Greece.

Based on the present set of facts that we have before us and following historical precedents there is no reason for Greeks to put any trust in Joe Biden. Greeks have the terrible tendency of listening to rhetoric and ignoring and forgetting actual facts.

January 31 will be the twenty fifth anniversary of the notorious Imia affair. Imia is the name of a Greek islet in the Aegean Sea that Turkey claimed. The Treaty of Peace with Italy that was signed in 1947 gave the Dodecanese islands along with all islets in the Aegean Sea to Greece. There is no question that Imia is a Greek islet.

Despite historic treaties and maps affirming Imia as Greek, Athens was pressured by the United States government to withdraw the Greek flag from Imia. This was a major defeat and setback for Greece and a victory for Turkey. It should be remembered that it was the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton that neutralized Greek sovereignty over Imia.

Over the past half a year or so, Turkish aggression has been manifested against Greece and Cyprus. Turkey challenges Greek sovereignty in the eastern mediterranean and claims outright several Greek islands that belong to Athens according to international treaties and are populated by ethnic Greeks. There are two factors in the year 2020 that were different from 1996.

The first difference was that the internationalist Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his PASOK party are gone from the political scene. Simitis was an anti Greek Prime Minister that was more interested in being European. Greece today is led by New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis who has proven to be more of a nationalist and is more committed to the defense of Greece than Simitis was.

The second difference between 2020 and 1996 is the difference between the Trump and the Clinton administrations. In 1996, Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke “negotiated” between Greece and Turkey. In reality, he pressured Greece to back down and the Greek flag came down from Imia.

In 2020, the Greek Government under the leadership of Mitsotakis stood up to the Turks and has refused to give away Greece’s sovereign rights. There is no evidence that the Trump administration in any way attempted to bully Greece into making concessions to the Turks.

Just something for Greeks to consider carefully before the inauguration of Joe Biden.