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.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas rejected Greek demands that a ban be imposed on weapons sales to Turkey. The Germans pointed out that Turkey bought from Russia because Ankara could not buy from the United States. Again, Greek national security interests have been completely ignored.

This is a major indignity for the Government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Turkey has changed dramatically in recent decades with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Greece itself has changed and for the better with the election of Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

What has not changed is the west’s slavish devotion to Turkey. The Europeans (and the Americans to a lesser extent) simply do not care about Greece and Cyprus. NATO has refused to intercede on behalf of Greece and Cyprus even as Turkey has become increasingly aggressive and claims outright several Greek islands.

Germany is without question the most contemptible of European countries. The one European country that will never change no matter what kind of government it has. Under the Kaiser during the first world war, Germany armed the Young Turks and abetted the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocide. During the second world war, Hitler’s Germany robbed Greece of its wealth while massacring many Greeks and leaving much of the population to starve.

During the economic crisis, Greeks witnessed the self righteous arrogance of the Germans who maintained a hard line on Greeks suffering economic hardships. In 1952, the western world bestowed mercy on Germany when the Germans argued they could not pay the reparations to the whole of Europe for the crimes against humanity committed against all occupied countries. Still, the Greeks had to endure the overbearing lectures emanating from Hitler’s people.

It really is time for the Greeks to snap out of it and wake up. European countries are not friends of Greece. At present, it could be said that France, Austria, and Slovakia support Greece against Turkey. The rest of the Europeans remain friendly to Turkey.

Europe would be unfriendly toward Greece and Cyprus even without the influence of the Germans. The German domination of Europe makes the European Union evil. It should not be forgotten that Germany helped to ignite the wars of Yugoslavia in 1991 when it pursued its traditional anti Serb policies and recognized Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia.

The Germans now fear that Turkey will flood Europe with Muslims. Perhaps the Germans and the European Union generally should not have enthusiastically supported the Syrian war which led to the refugee crisis which has flooded Turkey, the Greek islands, and much of Europe. Greece is now going to be expected to eat shit as usual.

Europeans are not friends or allies of Greece. Germany has always been and will always be one of Greece’s greatest enemies right up there with Turkey.

Members of the Turkish speaking Muslim community of Thrace have apparently colluded with the Turkish consulate in Rhodes to provide Turkey with Greek state secrets. Those Greek citizens involved in this collusion should be prosecuted for treason and the Turkish consulate in Rhodes should be permanently closed and its diplomats expelled from Greece.

This is reminiscent of the activities of some members of the Muslim community in Thrace in the run up to the anti Greek pogroms in Constantinople in 1955. Some members of that community colluded with the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki to bomb the birthplace of Mustafa Kemal. Kemal’s house is on property that belongs to the Turkish consulate.

The news in Turkey that Kemal’s house was bombed contributed to the rage of Turkish mobs who attacked Greeks and their Churches, homes, and businesses. Although members of the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki were investigated, no arrests were made. Nor were the Muslims who were Greek citizens held accountable for their treasonous actions.

We will see if Greece has changed in the past sixty five years by the manner in which the Mitsotakis government responds to treason by Greek citizens and by espionage by the enemy. By all rights, the Greek citizens should be given life sentences in prison and the Turkish consulate should be closed.

Further Turkish hostility toward Hellenism can be ascertained by the comments of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Kavusoglu who said that Turkey only supports a two state solution for Cyprus. In fairness, it has been clear for decades that Turkey had no intention of ever withdrawing from the territories that Ankara seized through its invasions in 1974. Greece and Cyprus never took the Turks seriously.

Since Turkish officials are openly affirming that they have no intention of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus, Athens and Nicosia should begin to see reality. Both Greece and Cyprus should declare to the European Union that failure to impose sanctions on Turkey over Ankara’s aggression against both Hellenic states will be seen as a hostile act.

Greece and Cyprus should cease cooperating with the European Union on other matters and should focus on relations with Russia. Greece and Russia are on the same side in Libya while Turkey is supporting a rival faction and has signed a bogus agreement to divide the Mediterranean with Libya. Greece has restored diplomatic relations with Syria which further demonstrates that Greece and Russia have many things in common.

Turkish aggression against Greece and Cyprus, and espionage in Greece by Turkey demonstrate that Greece cannot depend on its “partners” in the European Union. Whether Greece and Cyprus can depend on the United States remains to be seen, but Washington has other priorities and Turkey could very well take a back seat to the Biden administration’s anti Russian stance.

The National Herald has reported that France is among the European Union member states that voted against imposing sanctions on Turkey. Italy and Spain also went along with Germany in refusing to impose sanctions on Turkey. The Turks will realize correctly that Greece is alone and has no friends.

Greece and Cyprus are being threatened by Turkey. Cyprus has been under Turkish occupation since 1974 and Turkey is challenging its sovereign rights over oil in Cypriot waters. Turkey is openly challenging rights to Greek islands which were ceded to Athens by international treaties in 1947. In theory, Greek and Cypriot borders are the borders of the European Union.

In reality, Greek borders are not European borders. The Europeans do not care about Greece and they never will. Turkey has always had greater strategic value than Greece. That will never change. Greece’s strong position would come from Turkey’s Islamism.

Europe does not care about Turkish Islamism because the European Union ultimately is a bloc of secular left wing countries that are terrified of Islamic extremists. Several years ago, France, England, and Belgium were the targets of attacks by the Islamic State. The Europeans were completely defenseless and completely paralyzed by the fear that more terrorists would attack.

It is therefore not entirely surprising that Europe would seek to appease Turkey. For the Germans sacrificing Greece and Cyprus is a small price to pay in order to prevent Ankara from flooding Europe with millions of Muslim refugees. The Greeks have stupidly placed their faith and their hopes in the utterly pathetic and useless European Union.

We can now begin to see the utter madness of the Church crisis that Patriarch Bartholomew provoked. Greece has far more in common historically, culturally, and spiritually with Russia than with western Europe. Yet, much of the Greek speaking world has stupidly chosen to back Patriarch Bartholomew in his war against the Russian Church.

The Greeks need to revive their relationship with Russia. Greece needs to cut off all money to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. One of the stupider things that the Mitsotakis government has done is to give two million Euros to the Holy Cross Seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. Did the Prime Minister ask the Greek people if they wanted their money to go to the wreckage that is the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America?

The Greeks need to revive their relationship with Russia. Russian-Turkish relations will not be maintained long term. At the end of the day, Greece is being used by the United States for a possible confrontation with Russia, and possibly Iran. Greece has no conflicts with either of those countries and should not assist the west against either of those countries.

The European Union’s treachery against Greece should be a wake up call. Greece has to take control of its own sovereignty and behave like an independent country. There is no question that American and European interests dictate policies in Greece. This has to stop.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis has the option of liberating Greece from its failed pro western policies that have been pursued for centuries going back to the late Byzantine Empire. If he does not he will be another in a long line of Greek stooges who sold the nation out going back to Emperor Michael Paleologos.

Geoffrey Pyatt is a neoconservative fanatic and Russophobe who has done much damage to the world. As Ambassador to Ukraine Pyatt played a role in the overthrow of the democratic government of Ukraine which was replaced by a rabidly anti Russian government. As “Ambassador” to Greece, Pyatt has played a destructive role in the Orthodox Church and is in effect treating Greece like an American colony.

Pyatt has proceeded to say that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is important to American national security. Anyone familiar with the history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its position in Turkey during the twentieth century would scoff at this deception. After the September 1955 anti Greek pogroms in Constantinople, the US Government and NATO refused to condemn the atrocities that were sponsored by the Turkish Government.

In point of fact, the State Department threatened to cut off aid to Greece if Athens continued making any noise over the Turkish criminal actions. Archbishop Spyridon of Athens went on Greek radio to address the Greek people who were rightly angry with both Turkey and the United States and NATO. At the behest of the American embassy the Greek government tried to block the Archbishop from speaking. To his credit, Archbishop Spyridon read his entire speech which not only condemned Turkey, but condemned the inaction of the United States, Great Britain, and NATO.

During the 1960’s, when the Greek populations of Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos were ethnically cleansed by the Turkish government there was no protest from the United States and the Department of State. The theological school of Halki has been closed since 1971 and Washington has not done anything to force Turkey to reopen it. Yes, they have publicly expressed support for the opening of Halki but have not done anything to force Turkey to open the Seminary.

The idea that the American government considers the Ecumenical Patriarchate important to its national security is laughable. The State Department considers the Patriarchate crucial in pursuit of its anti Russian agenda. Once the State Department decides that the Patriarchate has no more significance for its anti Russian policy, the Phanar will be completely abandoned by Washington.

We have seen in the past six months the losses of Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Savior at Chora. Patriarch Bartholomew’s friends at the State Department did not come to the rescue. Geoffrey Pyatt is a fraud and a fanatic who should be expelled from Greece.

His blatant intervention in Church affairs is unacceptable and if Government officials began pronouncing on the doctrines and ecclesiology of any faith in the United States, it would be considered a violation of religious freedom and unconstitutional. Geoffrey Pyatt has now said that the Russian Orthodox Church should respect the will of the Ukrainian people on the Church issue.

Here is a reality check. Two thirds of Ukrainians belong to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church which is facing repression at the hands of the Ukrainian government and various Neo-Nazi militias. If Pyatt were sincere in his supposed adoration for religious freedom, he would be condemning the attacks on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But Pyatt is not sincere he is an ideologue and a fanatic.

Secular ideologues and fanatics do not respect the holy and the sacred. Every Orthodox Christian professes belief that Jesus Christ is the head of the Orthodox Church and that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church. Its ecclesiology, dogma, canon laws, liturgical services are matters for the hierarchy, clergy, and faithful. It is none of Pyatt’s business to decide which is the legitimate Church. But then again Pyatt is a secular person who makes no distinction between the Orthodox Church and the various secular governments and organizations he seeks to influence.

Patriarch Bartholomew deserves as much blame (perhaps more so) than Geoffrey Pyatt and Mike Pompeo for this whole affair. Patriarch Bartholomew and all the Bishops in Greece and Cyprus who recognize the schismatic entity are not ignorant of the fact that the so called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” has no apostolic foundations and is entirely uncanonical. The Ukrainian schism began in the early 1990’s.

The schismatics remained unrecognized by any local Orthodox Church until 2018. This was the result of the collusion between Patriarch Bartholomew and the governments of Ukraine and the United States. It was the result of Washington’s anti Russian policy which is thoroughly racist to the core as all Russians (including the Russian Church) are suspect in the eyes of Washington that led to the change in the stances of the Patriarch and the various Greek Bishops.

This is a deplorable situation and sadly many Greeks have closed their eyes to the outrages that are playing out before us. Most astonishingly certain academic “theologians” who support Patriarch Bartholomew’s insatiable appetite for power have no moral scruples and have encouraged and supported the intrusion of Pyatt and other American officials into the sacred affairs of the holy Church of Jesus Christ our God!

Geoffrey Pyatt is a war monger and a political extremist who did damage to Ukraine in 2014 by supporting the coup against a democratically elected government. He is doing damage to the sovereignty of Greece today and to the unity of the Orthodox Church by his intervention in ecclesiastical matters.

Geoffrey Pyatt should be expelled from Greece!

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had demanded that the European Union impose sanctions on Turkey in December as a result of Turkish aggression against Greek and Cypriot territorial rights. The European Union refused to do so in large part because of the Germans who happen to have a large Turkish community in their country and because they are afraid of Turkish threats to flood Europe with refugees. Other countries such as Spain did not wish to disrupt economic relations with the Turkish aggressor.

Again, this brings to mind the historically pro Ottoman foreign policies of the European Empires. Great Britain and France historically supported the Ottoman Empire against the Russians. During the Greek effort to liberate Asia Minor, Italy, France, and Great Britain gave support to the Turks even as the Kemalist genocide against the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks continued unabated.

During the First World War, the Germans armed the Young Turks and were completely indifferent to the genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. During the Second World War, Germany invaded Greece, massacred much of its population, created a famine that killed many more Greeks, and confiscated Greece’s gold. The Germans have never been and never will be Greece’s friends.

The Mitsotakis government has done good in many ways and the Prime Minister deserves the confidence of all Greeks for the way he has defended Greece from the Turks. However, he needs to take a more realistic viewpoint regarding Europe and needs to reach out to Russia.

The Russians have condemned the opening of the beach of Varosha in the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus. Russia has openly expressed support for Greece’s territorial rights in the Aegean citing international law. Greek critics of the Russians will cite Moscow’s friendly ties with Ankara.

The conduct of present day foreign policy and the formulation of future policies depends in great part on the historical past. Throughout the course of history, Russia and Turkey have been enemies with exceptional periods in which both sides reconciled in the interests of peace. There is no reason to believe that the present state of Russian-Turkish relations will remain as they are.

Turkey has become a jihadist state which conflicts with Russia as the center of Orthodox Christianity. Turkey supports Syrian jihadists against the Armenians and in Libya. These are the same Syrian jihadists that Russia and its ally in Damascus fought against. Russian and Turkish interests do not coincide and somewhere down the line these relations will fall apart.

Greece needs to keep all options open and should be contemplating the benefits of a Greek-Russian partnership which would have enormous benefits for Greece. It is true that Greece has established excellent relations with France and this relationship should be developed and pursued.

Greece should pursue relations with individual European states and should forget the European Union. As long as the European Union is dominated by Germany, Greece will never win support against Turkey. At the same time, there are encouraging signs from Washington.

Former American Ambassador to Greece Nicholas Burns condemned Turkish aggression against Greece. This is a good sign but not a guarantee of a change of policy. Greece should work to win the good will of Washington as long as the latter is willing to do away with Turkey. At the same time, Greece should be developing its relations with Russia.

If Greece is to be a sovereign state, its relations with Russia is an internal affair for Greece and should be pursued both in the interests of Hellenism and Pan-Orthodox Unity.

Both the Council of Europe and UNESCO have taken up the matter of the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. This is fine and well for people who want to make themselves feel good, but in terms of actually reversing the conversion it is hard to see how this will have any positive effect. The move to make Hagia Sophia a Mosque began in 2013 when the Church-Museum of Hagia Sophia of Trebizond was converted.

Turkish intentions were declared by various politicians and in 2016 Koranic prayers were said in Hagia Sophia during the month of fasting for Ramadan. The evidence that the Erdogan government was going to make Hagia Sophia was further displayed by the conversion of two further Church-Museums named Hagia Sophia in Iznik and Edirne. This blogger on numerous occasions contacted UNESCO to urge them to intervene (see the previous post for details).

Former Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis was happy that the Council of Europe took up the issue. At this point, criticism of Turkey is welcome but it would have been more welcome before the conversion occurred. UNESCO is trying to claim some moral high ground in a pathetic statement it released citing its actions last July 20. What about the seven years before that?

Criticism of Turkey had its strongest bite through the criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church to the conversion of Hagia Sophia. The Russians correctly viewed Hagia Sophia from a spiritual point of view and as the source that led to the conversion of the Russians to Christianity. The rest of the Orthodox world condemned the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque.

Support for Hagia Sophia even at this late date is welcome. The question remains what exactly are UNESCO and the Council of Europe plan to do? Are they going to take substantive action or is this a lot of hot air? We shall see.