Categories
faith

The Orthodox Church must Address the problem at the root

In a recent interview, Patriarch Kyril of Moscow stated that Patriarch Bartholomew recognized the schismatic “church” faction in Ukraine because of pressure from “powerful political forces”. It remains a mystery why the local Orthodox Churches have refrained from confronting the American government through their embassies in their respective capitals? At this point, the primates and bishops of all Orthodox Churches should begin raising awareness among their flocks as to what has transpired.

All Orthodox Churches should publicly denounce the State Department and its intrusive policies in Church affairs. It is time to break the silence of the past two years. Patriarch Bartholomew has been justifiably criticized from throughout the Orthodox world. This criticism along with appeals from some Orthodox primates to the Ecumenical Patriarch to convene a council has failed to achieve anything.

There have been reports over the past year indicating that the Orthodox primates in Georgia, Serbia, and elsewhere have been visited by American diplomats who asked them recognize the fake “church” in Ukraine. To their credit, these Churches have refused to establish communion with the fake “bishops” of Ukraine. One wishes the Archbishops of Athens and Nicosia, along with the holy kinot of Mount Athos had followed the examples of the Georgian and Serbian Churches.

The inter Orthodox fighting has produced nothing. Patriarch Bartholomew has refused to listen to reason and the reality is that he is simply not free. Making appeals to the Ecumenical Patriarch to convene a council has failed because Patriarch Bartholomew is under pressure from the American government. Therefore, the defenders of Orthodoxy need to redirect their criticism to those “powerful political forces” that instigated this entire crisis.

A council should be convened in a similar way as that which was convened by the Patriarch of Jerusalem last year. This time, the subject of the council should address the American problem. It is very clear that a resolution to the ecclesiastical crisis in Ukraine will not be forthcoming until secular political interests have removed themselves from the spiritual and canonical life of the Orthodox Church.

A council should be convened to discuss very simply the involvement of secular interests in the Church and how the free Orthodox Churches should react to the encroachments of the secular world into the spiritual domain. The council could be convened once again under the Patriarch of Jerusalem or it could be convened under the presidency of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.

It does not really matter under whose presidency such a council occurs as long as it convenes and addresses the destructive intrusion into Church life of the secular powers. This does not have to be a formal council with binding decisions as it will not be dealing with either dogmatic, doctrinal, or canonical issues. The restoration of the application of canonical law and norms in Ukraine is a long way off and will have to be dealt with sometime in the future.

Last year’s council in Jordan was not binding but it was productive in the sense that several local Churches took a step forward in discussing the crisis. The next step should be for the local Churches to discuss and to condemn the secular intrusions into the spiritual life of the Church of Christ. As the Churches of Constantinople and Greece are presently not free, they should not be expected to attend such a council.

In any case, the synods of the free Churches should gather among themselves to coordinate protests among the faithful in their own countries and to ask their own governments to protect religious freedom before their local Churches follow the path of the Churches of Constantinople, Greece, and Alexandria. It is time for Orthodoxy to shake off the blows that have been inflicted upon it since 2018 and begin the process of defending the faith.

The above suggestions may not sound like much but at the very least it is time to address the origin of the whole Ukrainian crisis. This is a much needed first step on the road to restore Orthodox unity. The work of the State Department in attempting to influence the Church as if it were a political party or non governmental organization is an outrage and a a violation of religious freedom.

The Orthodox Church must react toward Washington as if the State Department were actually closing closing Churches and suppressing the freedom of Orthodox Christians. What it has done by fomenting schism in the Church and targeting the Russian Church and its daughter Church in Ukraine is just as evil as more open and more direct forms of persecution.

The free Orthodox Churches must go beyond criticizing Washington in interviews. They must begin discussing ways of uniting with one another to resist the ongoing efforts to drag more local Churches into recognizing the schismatics and must openly confront the evil.

Only when the State Department has withdrawn from its meddling in the Churches will peace and unity be restored in the Orthodox Church. Perhaps the Ecumenical Patriarch and the others who have recognized the schismatics will repent?

Categories
faith

Church of Greece and the Pandemic

The Orthodox Church of Greece is confronting the Greek Government over the complex issue of closing Churches for the impending feast of the theophany on January 6. Closing Churches is always a painful matter but in the middle of a worldwide pandemic the Church needs to consider the matter of permitting large numbers of people to congregate in Church. The Bishops of the Church of Greece need to be more flexible with the government and need to consider the expertise of doctors and scientists.

This is absolutely the wrong time for the Church of Greece to confront the Greek government. Back in 2017, when the Tsipras government legalized gay marriage and introduced legislation favoring transgenderism, the Bishops barely protested. Of course, Church services must continue but under the circumstances it is understandable if the Church is not filled with faithful.

The possibility of the spread of covid 19 from one individual to another necessitates that steps be taken to prevent large numbers of people from congregating. Some sort of compromise could be reached such as ensuring only a certain number of people be permitted to attend Church services and all should be required to wear a mask.

It is ironic that the Bishops of Greece have taken a hard line stance now. The possibility of closed Churches is a temporary phenomenon and with scientists predicting the end of the pandemic at some point during 2021 (possibly by fall) this situation will be rectified. The Bishops of the Church of Greece have ironically abandoned their ecclesiastical responsibilities for over a year now and are suddenly presuming to take positions on matters of public health which are the domain of secular authorities and scientists. The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece should be more preoccupied with the ongoing schism within universal Orthodoxy over the Ukrainian affair which threatens the unity of the Orthodox Church over the long run. The Ukrainian schism preceded the pandemic and appears likely to remain a problem when the pandemic disappears.

American officials such as outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and “Ambassador” Geoffrey Pyatt have intervened blatantly in the internal ecclesiastical affairs of the Churches of Constantinople and Greece by urging them to recognize the pseudo-church in Ukraine that consists of hierarchs and priests who were either defrocked or never ordained and consecrated by the canonical Orthodox Church. American officials have made a mockery of Orthodox ecclesiology and canon law and the Bishops of the Orthodox Church of Greece failed to stop them.

The Bishops of the Orthodox Church of Greece should have erupted in anger and rebellion in 2019 when American officials approached them and asked them to recognize the Ukrainian pseudo-church. The Bishops of Greece need to focus on spiritual affairs and to get their house in order. Certainly, it is wise to maintain a healthy distrust of the motives of the Greek government but faced with the reality of the pandemic it is not unreasonable for the Church to make certain non dogmatic concessions in the interest of public health.

The Bishops present confrontation with the government cannot hide the fact that they failed to defend Orthodoxy at a time when it truly mattered and allowed the secular interests of the State Department to intrude into the sacred affairs of the holy Church of Jesus Christ!

The Orthodox Church of Greece should work with the Mitsotakis government in the Justinian tradition of “symphonia” (meaning synergy or harmony). “Symphonia” refers to the traditional alliance between Church and State that was formalized under the Emperor-Saint Justinian of Constantinople during the sixth century. The present Greek government is preferable to both PASOK and Syriza both of which would have been pursuing very aggressive anti Church and anti Christian policies had they been in power at the present time.

The Bishops of the Church of Greece should proceed with prudence and wisdom, and above all with faith. All Orthodox Christians have faith that the healing power of Jesus Christ will end the pandemic! In the meantime, the Church should witness to Christ to both the faithful and to its enemies through fidelity to sacred worship and holy tradition within the present realities that this fallen world finds itself in.

Throughout history, the holy Church of God has always had enemies. This remains unchanged up to the present day. The Bishops of the Church of Greece should respect the opinions of those in the secular sphere such as doctors and concentrate on spiritual matters such as the great spiritual crisis which has created a terrible schism in Orthodoxy.

Categories
faith

Happy New Year!

Mercifully, the year from hell is finally over. The year that brought us the coronavirus, the murder of George Floyd and riots throughout the country, and the victory of Joe Biden in the Presidential election is gone! The year that saw Hagia Sophia and the great Chora Church of our Savior in Constantinople become Mosques is gone!

May the light emanating from the birth of the most glorious King of Israel in Bethlehem shine brightly in the new year! May the incarnate logos that was born of woman and dwelt among men heal the world of the afflictions of disease, madness, and extremism. Glory to Jesus Christ our King and our God, vanquisher of death and disease!

Categories
political

The stupidity of political correctness lives on

Homer’s “The Odyssey” has apparently been removed from a school curriculum in Massachusetts because of its alleged racism and sexism. Also being targeted by other leftists is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” and the works of Shakespeare. The stupidity of political correctness ends the year that saw the eruption of violence throughout America and the destruction of statues of historical figures (including abolitionists).

Ideological lunatics control both the Universities as well as the public schools and it appears the time has come for the classics to take a beating. I happen to have received a membership card to join the Republican Party. I have hesitated to make a decision on the grounds that there is much about the Republican Party that I do not agree with. Neo-conservatives and “Christian” Zionists are elements of the Party that are not trustworthy.

Yet, the stupidity of political correctness and the insanity of the political left leaves one with no sensible choice other than to join and support the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is the party of the neo-pagans who support the gay, lesbian, and transgender ideology. It is also the party whose constituency believes in defunding (or outright abolishing) the Police.

The Trump administration was great because for the most part it stood in opposition to both the political correctness of the Democrats and to the worst elements of the Republicans (neo-cons). Now a decision has to be made. At least for the short term, I will be going along with the Republicans with the hope and possibility that the America first agenda of Donald Trump will have taken hold in the Republican Party and that the neocons can be kept in check.

The political left is completely insane and its agenda is aimed directly at the overthrow of Christianity, democracy, and all aspects of culture. Let it not be forgotten that the 2020 elections were conducted under the threat of riots and mass disturbances. The Democratic Party is the party of Marxism, neo-paganism, and censorship.

There is a teacher in that school in Massachusetts that is actually taking credit for being responsible for the removal of Homer’s “The Odyssey” from her school. She openly said that she is proud of this deed. Does anyone really need to guess her party affiliation or which political candidate she voted for in the 2020 Presidential elections?

Categories
faith

The Orthodox Way and Constantinople

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/27/last-byzantine-greeks-facing-extinction-in-islamist-led-turkey/

The article in the link above about the last Greeks of Constantinople is very good. This is what the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Greece should be focusing on. Very sadly, the Greek Orthodox world has been led to disaster as a result of the collaboration of Patriarch Bartholomew and some Bishops in Greece with the State Department.

Patriarch Bartholomew had one major challenge confronting him when he was enthroned as Ecumenical Patriarch in November 1991. That was to save the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its remaining flock in Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos. For a long time it appeared that Patriarch Bartholomew was in fact proceeding to revive the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

A major Pan Orthodox synaxis was held in Constantinople in March 1992 that was unprecedented. Patriarch Bartholomew showed a good deal of courage in surviving nearly a dozen assassination attempts or bomb attacks at the Patriarchate. It can still be said that he faced down Turkish-Islamic terrorism with great bravery.

Alas, with the convening of the problematic pseudo-council of Crete and the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s intervention in Ukraine much damage was done to Constantinople’s prestige in addition to the damage done to Orthodox unity. The plight of the Greek communities in Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos is tragic. Quite noticeable is the fact that the Patriarch’s allies have done nothing to alleviate their plight.

The theological school of Halki remains closed and Hagia Sophia and the Chora Church of the Savior are being used as Mosques. The Greek speaking Churches need to end the crisis in Orthodoxy. Any Greek who believes that the Ecumenical Patriarchate ended the schism in Ukraine is deluded. Constantinople has in fact contributed to the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Church and created a major schism throughout the universal Church.

As an old admirer of the Great Church of Constantinople I am now a profound critic of the Patriarchate and its policies. What the Patriarch needs is criticism and opposition and not blind obedience. This is the Orthodox way. In earlier centuries, the spiritual children of the Church of Constantinople criticized and rebuked their Patriarchs when they strayed from the truth as occurred during the iconoclastic crisis and after the convening of the false Council of Florence. The Patriarchate has an important function to play but not the function Patriarch Bartholomew wants it to play.

The Patriarch has the responsibility to protect itself, its important shrines that remain in Constantinople, and its remaining flock. The Patriarchate cannot fulfill these aspirations if it is defying the precepts of Orthodox ecclesiology and inventing a non existent role for itself and claiming to be “first without equals” in the worlds Eastern Orthodox hierarchy.

Categories
books

The roots of the present crisis in Greek Orthodoxy

Book Review

The Orthodox Church and Independent Greece 1821-1852 by Charles Frazee

Cambridge University Press. 1969

This book is an excellent companion piece to Steven Runciman’s “The Great Church in Captivity” (reviewed here https://thedoubleheadedeagle.blog/?p=1360) which was published one year earlier. Observers of present day ecclesiastical affairs in Constantinople, Greece, and Ukraine may be reminded of events that are presently playing out in our own day. From the inception of Greek independence the great powers began interfering in the internal affairs of Greece.

From the very beginning the western power of the day (in this case Great Britain) meddled unceasingly in Greek Church affairs. Frazee’s book recounts the problems that arose when the Church of Greece was declared “autocephalous” from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1833. It is easy to forget that the Patriarchate has had legitimate grievances. Indeed, the autocephaly of the Church of Greece from Constantinople was uncanonical in 1833 much like the “autocephaly” that Patriarch Bartholomew attempted to bestow to Ukrainian schismatics in 2018 was uncanonical.

There are many ironies regarding the position that Constantinople finds itself in today and the position it found itself in during the period of 1833 to 1850. Constantinople today is the aggressor against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church whereas in 1833 the Ecumenical Patriarchate was the victim of the western powers. There is also one identical cause both for the schism that took place between the Greeks in 1833-1850 and for the schism that has taken place in the Orthodox Church today and that is Russophobia.

It has been forgotten by everybody that the Ecumenical Patriarchate was allied with and was supported by the Russians during the nineteenth century. It is for this reason that the British and the German advisors to the Bavarian (Roman Catholic) King that was imposed on Greece demanded the autocephaly of the Church of Greece. One of those German advisors at the court of the young King Otho was Georg Von Maurer. Frazee writes,

“A second danger was seen by Maurer in the threat of Russia to Greece. It was obvious to all, according to him, that Russia was interested in expansion at the expense of the Ottomans and that the Orthodox populations in the Balkans could be used by that country as a means to reach her goal. Many of the Greek clergy were devoted to Russia and would support Russian ambitions in this area. The Tsar could easily use the patriarchal appointments as a means to control the Greek church, Maurer contended, so that the only way for the new state of Greece to withstand this pressure would be to have a synod independent of Constantinople”.

This assertion of the German Georg Von Maurer has been echoed in our own day by American officials such as “Ambassador” to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt who likewise accuses the Russians of attempting to control the Orthodox Church. The hypocrisy of western officials is identical. Von Maurer and his colleagues in Greece proceeded to do to the Church of Greece exactly what they were accusing the Russians of doing! Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo along with “Ambassador” Pyatt instigated the schism in Orthodoxy by interfering in internal ecclesiastical matters for political purposes and did exactly what they were accusing the Russians of doing!

One crucial difference between the Church crisis then and the Church crisis now has to do with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Church of Constantinople then was the victim of an injustice and Patriarch Anthimos IV who presided over the Church of Constantinople was a pious and holy man who would be known as a defender of Orthodoxy and whose signature appeared on the famous encyclical of 1848 that refuted Papal claims. Patriarch Bartholomew today claims Papal like authority and has colluded in the dismemberment of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Following the declaration of “autocephaly” for the Church of Greece in 1833, an anti ecclesiastical campaign was undertaken by the German King and his advisors. Over four hundred Greek Monasteries were closed. The septuagaint version of the Old Testament was prohibited, Byzantine style iconography was banned and replaced by western religious “art”, and Churches were built in a Protestant style without the Byzantine domes.

An Orthodox reader of this book is sure to be outraged as I was when I first read it back in the early 1990’s. It is perplexing to see how it is that today’s hierarchs in Constantinople and Greece seem to have either forgotten the unpleasant history of 1833 to 1850, or are simply ignoring it. The similarities between what transpired then in Greece, and what is now happening in Ukraine are unmistakable.

In the name of anti Russian hysteria, the Orthodox Church is being exploited and used as a political prop by the godless western elites just as the Church was used in the nineteenth century to undermine the Russians. In the nineteenth century, there was Greek opposition to what was happening, just as there have been signs of opposition in Greece to the recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics by the Greek synod at the behest of the American Department of State.

In the nineteenth century, a great monk by the name of Christophoros Papoulakos openly preached against the Roman Catholic King and his advisors. In recent months, Greek faithful in the city of Patras defended their beloved Cathedral of Saint Andrew which contains the relics of the holy apostle by preventing visiting “bishops” from the schismatic entity in Ukraine from concelebrating the liturgy.

The Frazee book is an excellent book that deserves to be reexamined by all Orthodox Christians (especially Greeks) in light of the present crimes being perpetrated against the Orthodox Church by the great western power of the day.

Categories
political

Greece, Russia, and America

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has publicly criticized outgoing American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The Russian Foreign Ministry has accurately assessed the dominating role of Washington in Greek internal affairs. The Russian Spokeswoman pointed out that Washington demands that Greece and Cyprus not cooperate with Russia.

Furthermore, the Russian spokeswoman referred to the crisis in the Orthodox Church in Ukraine that was precipitated by American officials such as Mike Pompeo. The Russians have a firm grasp of the domineering attitude toward Greece and Cyprus by Washington. On the other hand, there are still issues to be ironed out between Athens and Moscow as well.

Russia has in recent months made many pro Greek statements such as condemning the Turkish opening of the beach of Varosha in the Turkish occupied territories and has endorsed Greece’s right to extend its territory in the Aegean Sea to twelve nautical miles. At the same time Russia maintains a friendly attitude toward Turkey.

Greek-Russian brotherhood based on Orthodoxy is desirable and Athens should pursue a pro Russian foreign policy. However, Athens and Moscow can and should discuss the problem of Turkey. Greece and Cyprus are in a struggle for survival. Turkey is a jihadist state that represents a menace to all, including Russia.

Greek-Russian relations have the potential to flourish. But at the same time Greece faces a threat from Turkey. As such, Athens needs to also maintain friendly ties with Washington as well. Ties with Washington are complicated by the latter’s dominating influence over Greece.

Greece has come far under Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his aggressive defense against Turkish aggression is admirable. Now the Greek government needs to also assert its sovereignty against its alleged “allies” in the west. Athens must pursue an independent foreign policy based on Hellenic interests above all.

There is a good deal that unites Greece with Russia. Russian-Turkish ties have been strained by Ankara’s support for international jihadism (mainly Syrian) and it is unlikely that these ties will hold indefinitely for a long period of time. Greece needs to negotiate seriously with the Russians on the matter of Turkey.

The Church issue in Ukraine has needlessly complicated Greek relations with Russia. Athens must distance itself from the actions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and elements within the Church of Greece. It is important for Greece to maintain close ties with Russia for spiritual, historic, cultural, and national reasons.

Being close with Russia does not necessitate closing the door to Washington. Washington is sabotaging itself in Greece by interfering in ecclesiastical matters and seeking to dictate the formation of Greek foreign policy. Ultimately, the direction in Greek foreign policy depends on the national interests of Athens, Washington, and Moscow.

If the incoming Biden administration pursues a rabidly anti Russian foreign policy, Athens should not cooperate with Washington. Greece has one deadly enemy and that is Turkey. If Washington is interested in cooperation against Turkey then Greece can and should cooperate with Washington

The issue of Turkey is the complicating factor in relations between Athens and Moscow. But then again Moscow has expressed support for Cyprus (Varosha) and Greece (twelve nautical miles) as mentioned above. In any case, Greeks must behave with a sense of national honor and as an independent state.

All foreign relations should be based on the principles of Greek national interests and aspirations. Unfortunately, this is hindered by the overbearing policies of the United States and NATO toward Greece. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman is correct in expressing Russian criticism of western policy in Greece.

The groundwork toward Greek-Russian relations should begin but such relations will take off when Russia’s friendship with Turkey ends. In the meantime, Greece must be cautious in its relations with Washington. Washington is more interested for now in going after Moscow than Ankara.

This is intolerable from a Hellenic standpoint.

Categories
political

Hagia Sophia Diaries 20

The Hagia Sophia diaries is a series of entries with commentaries pertaining to the latest developments on the matter of the Great Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

It appears that UNESCO has sent a request to the Turkish government asking to examine the Churches of Hagia Sophia and the Saviour of Chora. UNESCO officials claim that that they are asking to examine the former Churches because of rumors they have heard “regarding the Christian elements in the building”.

This is actually a positive move because Turkish President Erdogan in the face of international criticism in response to his government’s action in converting Hagia Sophia into a Mosque gave strict assurances that Hagia Sophia would be protected. It will be very good if the experts sent by UNESCO were to actually make an inspection of Hagia Sophia and the Church of the saviour at Chora. It is unlikely that Turkey will not change the Christian character of Hagia Sophia assuming they have not done so already.

There is more hope to be put in the efforts of individuals working for UNESCO who have an expertise on Byzantine art and architecture than on the bureaucrats of UNESCO who failed to protest Turkish actions until it was too late. Putting people in the field who are serious academics and experts is a slight improvement over the efforts that were made by many supporters of Hagia Sophia and Chora toward UNESCO’s diplomats and political representatives who failed miserably to protect Hagia Sophia’s status as a world heritage site.

One one can only hope and pray that the struggle for Hagia Sophia is not over. We will wait and see if UNESCO has any backbone at this late date to actually send real experts on Hagia Sophia into the field to document what has been done.

Categories
Published commentaries

European Treachery

The following was published in the Greek American National Herald on December 24, 2020

OPINIONS – GUEST VIEWPOINTS

The National Herald

European Treachery against Greece

Αssociated Press

FILE – In this Tuesday, June 2, 2020 file photo, people walk past a poster of a European Union flag in Istanbul. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)12/24/2020 By Theodore G. Karakostas     

Considering the refusal of the European Union to impose sanctions on Turkey in response to Ankara’s aggressive and expansionist designs against Greece and Cyprus one cannot help but be reminded of he European betrayal of Greece during the effort by Athens to liberate the Hellenic populations of Asia Minor and possibly Constantinople. The Italians were the first to make deals with Mustafa Kemal’s murderous nationalists in Anatolia. The Italians were followed by the French and the British who imposed an arms embargo on Greece while the Kemalists were fully armed even as they slaughtered defenseless Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian Christians.

The sanctions imposed on Turkey by both Europe and the United States are based on Turkish purchases of a Russian air-defense system. While the short term goal of the sanctions may be directed against Turkey, the long term target is Russia. The anti-Russian policies of Europe and the United States will not be to the long term benefits of Greece. It is a historically proven fact that the Turks have always been the beneficiaries of the west’s Russophobia. No better example of this exists than the pro-Ottoman policies pursued by the British Empire and France during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Anti-Russian hysteria broke out in Europe in 1853 during the run up to the Crimean War. The British even composed a song, ‘the Russians shall not have Constantinople.’ Greece at the time was anxious to join the 

Russians in their fight against the Ottoman Empire only to see the port of Piraeus occupied by the British and French. Anti-Russian sentiment among the Europeans permitted the Ottoman Empire’s murderous campaigns  against the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks to proceed gradually.

During the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was the adversary of the west, Turkey was considered a strategic asset. It is because Turkey was considered a strategic asset that America and Europe ignored the anti-Greek pogroms of 1955 and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos during the 1960’s. Furthermore, the perception of Washington that Turkey was strategically important permitted Washington to support the Turkish invasions of Cyprus that occurred in July and August 1974. Therefore, the renewed anti-Russian hysteria in America and Europe should be of concern to Greece and Cyprus as Turkey may become the beneficiary of anti-Russian hysteria as it has been throughout the past two centuries.

While it is true that Russia and Turkey have been cooperating in recent years, the reality is that enemy states frequently form temporary truces and periods of cooperation. The most notorious example of enemies making nice with each other is the pact between Hitler and Stalin that was signed in 1939. Turkey has signed an agreement with Libya to divide the Mediterranean between the two of them. More crucially, Russia and Turkey are on opposite sides in the conflict in Libya. Russia and Greece are in fact supporting the same side in Libya. 

Turkey and Azerbaijan have been supporting Syrian jihadists against the Armenians in Artsakh. This in addition to the Syrian jihadists that have been fighting for Turkey in Libya. Furthermore, Turkish officials have bragged that Syrian jihadists would fight with Turkey in the event of a Greek-Turkish war. It should be remembered and emphasized that Russia used its might to defend the secular and pro-Christian government in 

Damascus against the Syrian jihadists that were being sponsored and supported by Ankara. Turkey is a jihadist state who supported the murderous Islamic State politically and economically. 

With regard to the Turkish bragging that Syrians will fight with Turkey against Greece. Western foreign policy nearly turned Syria into another Afghanistan. During the 1980’s, jihadists who would later form Al Quada gathered in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Syrian jihadists have become a problem as a result of American and European meddling in Syria. Furthermore, the Greek islands have been flooded with refugees as a result of the western interventions in Iraq and Syria. Are Greek interests really intertwined with those of Europe and can Greece really trust the Europeans?

The Germans have worked to undermine Greek efforts to ensure that sanctions would be imposed on Turkey as a result of Turkish threats against European Union members Greece and Cyprus. The Germans are more interested in appeasing Turkey because of Ankara’s threats to flood Europe with millions of refugees. Other European countries such as Spain and Italy have rejected the possibility of ending their economic ties over Greece and Cyprus. 

The Russians have recently been making statements very friendly to Greece. They have expressed support for Greece’s right to expand its territory in the Aegean Sea. Russia has also condemned the Turkish opening of the beach of Varosha in the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus. Russia has also reminded the Turks of the Russian role in helping to free Greece at the Battle of Navarino in 1828. Greece hasexperienced great historical injustices at the hands of the Europeans throughout history. It should not be forgotten that the Greek and Armenian Christian populations at Smyrna were slaughtered while Italian, French,British, and American battleships in the harbor stood by without intervening. This after the European powers supported the armies of Mustafa Kemal.

Greek and Cypriot foreign policy changes need to be evaluated very carefully and all options must remain open. Options must include the possibility of aligning with Orthodox Russia under the right circumstances.

American and European perceptions that Russia is a threat may very well lead them to support Turkey. It is quite possible that nothing may come of any American and European efforts to reconcile with Turkey as Ankara is a jihadist state. Regardless, historical precedents remain as do certain geographical realities. The Greeks would do well to perceive European refusal to punish Turkey for its aggressive designs on Greek and Cypriot territory as unfriendly. Athens would also be wise to contemplate the possibilities of a Greek-Russian partnership in the probable event that Russian-Turkish relations fall apart, as they did in 2015. 

Categories
political

New York Times Op Ed

On December 18, the New York Times published an op ed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that talked about foreign policy challenges for the incoming Biden administration. Secretary Gates supported the sanctions that were imposed on Turkey for purchasing defensive weaponry from Russia.

Secretary Gates made an indirect reference to Greece and Cyprus. There is a link in the op-ed regarding the “eastern mediterranean” that takes readers to an article on Turkish aggression against Greece and Cyprus. Overall, the analysis by Gates is not bad.

But something more is needed regarding Turkish aggression against Greece and Turkey. The United States needs to be pressed by Athens to impose direct sanctions on Turkey specifically for its aggressive designs on Greek and Cypriot territorial rights. Furthermore, the United States needs to step up on behalf of the Armenians.

Turkey supports the genocidal regime of Azerbaijan which started a war with the peaceful Armenian community of Artsakh. Artsakh is part of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh which has an overwhelming Armenian majority. Turkey supports Azerbaijan which claims it as part of its own territory. Historically, Nagorno-Karabakh has been Armenian and was part of Armenia until the communists in the former Soviet Union stupidly gave the territory to Azerbaijan.

The Armenians fought a war this year for their survival against the lunatic government of Baku which threatened to attack nuclear reactors in Armenia. The United States needs to step up to impose sanctions on Turkey for its acts of aggression against Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia. Azerbaijan should also be subject to serious punishment as should Israel which has inexplicably been supporting Azerbaijan.

There was a time when sanctions of any kind and for any reason against Turkey would have been unheard of. Sanctions against Turkey for the Russian purchases are good (as a beginning) but not good enough. Further sanctions must be imposed with direct linkage to Turkey’s aggressive and genocidal ambitions against Greece, Armenia, and Cyprus.