The Orthodox Church today commemorates the consecration of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople in addition to the Saints commemorated on the Church calendar. Hagia Sophia will always be our holy Church regardless of its present status. The Church is named for Christ himself. Its present plight will not be forgotten.
The Orthodox Church of Greece has expressed condemnation of the government’s plans to recognize same sex marriage and the right of gay couples to adopt children. This is the right call as the Orthodox Church cannot accept social policies that conflict with the Christian teaching on marriage and the family. However, there is still a noticeable difference of opinion between the Church of Greece and the distorted and heretical views of Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Recall the baptisms of two children in Greece by the American Archbishop whose parents were a gay couple in 2022.
Archbishop Elpidophoros misled the Metropolitan of Glyfada when he failed to inform him that “parents” of the children were both men. The Archbishop left behind much anger in Greece and has remained unrepentant over his actions. The bishops of Greece who are rightfully standing in opposition to the anti Christian agenda of the Mitsotakis government really need to also direct their words at Archbishop Elpidophoros and the Ecumenical Patriarch.
In addition, while the bishops of Greece are doing the right thing in the area of social morality, they can do the right thing in the area of religious freedom. This means they should condemn the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They should also cease communion with the fake “church” and restore communion with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church.
The Turkish newspaper “Aydinlink” has expressed criticism that the Ecumenical Patruarchate includes the term “ecumenical” in its title. This is indicative of the fact that Turkey remains hostile to the Patriarchate. America in the end will do nothing for the Patriarchate.
Just as America did nothing after the anti Greek pogroms of September 1955 and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Constantinople.The Ecumenical Patriarchate made a disastrous decision to cooperate with the US against the Russians by interceding in Ukraine, the canonical territory of the Russian Church. The Russians will be unlikely to help the Patriarchate considering the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Russophobia. The Patriarchate has split Orthodoxy and compromised itself when its future is far from secure.
Former Ukrainian President Poroshenko recently praised the “tomos” that the fake “church” in Ukraine received in 2018 from Patriarch Bartholomew. Does Patriarch Bartholomew think the Nazi political elite in Ukraine will help the Patriarchate from the hostile Turks? Both the Ukrainian and American governments will leave the Patriarchate to its fate when the anti Russian hysteria fades away when the war ends.
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Prime Minister Mitsotakis hosted Turkish President Erdogan of Turkey earlier this month. Once again there is talk about a Greek Turkish rapprochement. The only positive sign from Ankara is that Turkish officials have stopped threatening to invade the Greek islands. How nice of them. This time at least Erdogan did not demand a revision of the Treaty of Lausanne as he did in 2017 when he last visited.
The fact remains that Turkey still occupies Cyprus. Ersin Tatar, Ankara’s representative in the occupied Territories of Cyprus insists on a two state solution and no concessions will be forthcoming. Add to the fact that Turkey has successfully helped Azerbaijan ethnically cleanse the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Turkey is a major regional power entering into dialogue with Greece from position of strength.
The influence of Washington on Mitsotakis is quite apparent. Athens is moving to placate Turkey to please Washington. The Erdogan visit to Greece was out of place in light of the atrocities against the Armenians and Ankara’s general hostility toward Cyprus. Mitsotakis once pursued a hard line against Turkey.
His first administration with former Foreign Minister Dendias led to alliances with France and Egypt to counter Turkey. Over time, Greece’s principled stance has softened considerably. It might seem that Greek Turkish relations are less tense but this is not the case.
The fact that the Turks are not presently threatening to invade does not mean that their hostile claims on everything from Cyprus to to the Aegean Sea have disappeared. The Erdogan visit to Greece is a victory for Turkey and a defeat for Greece.
Turkey appears to be pursuing reconciliation while maintaining aggressive stances. This is a major propaganda victory for Turkey.
December 8, 2023
The National Herald
FILE – Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 10, 2017, in Washington. Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. He was 100. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died. Kissinger supported the military dictators of Greece and encouraged the coup against President Makarios of Cyprus and the subsequent Turkish invasions. Greeks will forever associate him with the loss of Cyprus. A thoroughly immoral and unscrupulous individual, Kissinger is the perfect example of how statesmen act like mafia figures at a much higher and more sophisticated level.
Kissinger was born Jewish in the Weimar Republic and was ten years old when Hitler came to power. His family fled Germany just before the pogroms of Kristaalnacht in November 1938. Kissinger experienced the brutality of living as an oppressed minority in a totalitarian state, and despite this lacked any empathy for the victims of dictatorships.
Aside from supporting the dictatorship in Greece, Kissinger supported Augusto Pinochet’s fascist regime in Chile and was a backer of the Shah’s dictatorship in Iran. Critics are also pointing out the various wars and crimes against humanity that Kissinger supported throughout the world in places such as Cambodia, East Timor, and Bangladesh.
The strongest indictment of Kissinger came from the late Christopher Hitchens in his book, ‘The Trial of Henry Kissinger’. Hitchens got tired of seeing journalists like Ted Koppel treating Kissinger as a statesman rather than as a war criminal and wrote an article that later became the aforementioned book. Hitchens had previously authored a book on Cyprus called ‘Hostage to History’ which remains one of the best on the modern history of Cyprus.
It remains truly disturbing that the memory of Kissinger is being honored by the powerful of the world. Former President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair have both praised Kissinger. They are not alone. These two leaders themselves instigated the invasion of Iraq, which led to a sectarian civil war, the destruction of most Iraqi Christians, and the rise of the genocidal Islamic State.
They have something else in common. Just as Kissinger supported the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, these latter day western leaders supported the dismemberment of Cyprus by trying to bully the democratic Republic of Cyprus into accepting the Annan Plan in 2004.
Henry Kissinger exemplified the sinister and criminal nature of the foreign policy establishment. The disregard for civilian lives and the destruction of independent countries was demonstrated in Cyprus and in many other cases. Athens and Nicosia continue the struggle to liberate Cyprus from the Turkish occupation, which remains Kissinger’s evil legacy bestowed on the Hellenic world.
Napoleon
Directed by
Ridley Scott
2023
The new film “Napolean” with Joachin Phoenix in the title role is great. Phoenix who earned a well deserved Oscar for his role as the Joker is terrific in his role. The film depicts the rise and subsequent fall of the tyrant and his political and military careers.
Much attention is given to his military campaigns and the senseless destruction and carnage. The closing credits inform us that twenty three million people died in his wars over a twenty two year period. My favorite parts are the scenes involving Russia and there is much about this film that is timely.
An excellent film highly recommended.
This letter is in response to the November 29 article by David E. Sanger on Henry Kissinger. Mr. Sanger omits Kissinger’s crimes and offenses perpetrated in Greece and Cyprus during his disastrous back to back tenure as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Kissinger and the Nixon administration remain complicit in supporting the Greek military dictatorship and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Kissinger overruled all suggestions by State Department officials to stop the Turkish invasions of Cyprus that occurred during the summer of 1974.
Kissinger personally loathed and mocked the democratically elected President Makarios of Cyprus and approved his overthrow and the subsequent Turkish aggression in Cyprus. As a result over 200,000 Greek Cypriots suffered the results of Turkish ethnic cleansing and are unable to return to their homeland up to the present time. Kissinger’s ruthlessness and inhuman gangsterism has had devastating consequences for people around the world, including Cyprus who are still suffering and enduring the consequences that emanated from Turkish aggression and the psychopathic mind of Henry Kissinger who supported that brutal invasion.
The article makes very clear that Henry Kissinger is responsible for human suffering on a mass scale around the world. Torture victims in Greece and victims of rape, murder, and ethnic cleansing by Turkish troops in Cyprus occurred largely because of the misuse and abuse of power exacerbated by the now deceased sociopath.
Theodore Karakostas
Boston, MA
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died. Kissinger supported the military dictators of Greece and encouraged the anti Makarios coup in Cyprus and the subsequent Turkish invasions. Greeks will forever associate him with the loss of Cyprus. A thoroughly immoral and unscrupulous individual, Kissinger is the perfect example of how statesmen are mafia figures at a much higher and more sophisticated level.
Kissinger was born Jewish in the Weimar Republic and was ten years old when Hitler came to power. His family fled Germany just before the pogroms of Kristaalnacht in November 1938. Kissinger experienced the brutality of living as an oppressed minority in a totalitarian state and despite this lacked any empathy for the victims of dictatorships. Aside from supporting the dictatorship in Greece, Kissinger supported Augusto Pinochet’s fascist regime in Chile and was a backer of the Shah’s dictatorship in Iran.
The best indictment of Kissinger came from the late Christopher Hitchens in his book, “The Trial of Henry Kissinger”. Hitchens got tired of seeing journalists like Ted Koppel treating Kissinger as a statesman rather than as a thug and wrote an article that became the aforementioned book calling for Kissinger to be tried as a war criminal. The Hitchens book has a list of Kissinger’s crimes which include his offenses against Greece and Cyprus.
Hitchens of course wrote a previous book, “Hostage to History” about Cyprus which documented Kissinger’s crimes against Cyprus. More recently, the late Eugene Rossides wrote a book, “Kissinger and Cyprus a study in lawlessness”. We will not be forgetting Kissinger’s criminal legacy in Cyprus.
Ironically, Kissinger came to be disliked by the neoconservatives. Kissinger was a thug, but he was an intelligent thug and not a fanatic unlike the neoconservatives. Kissinger opposed the wars against Serbia in the Balkans and more recently opposed NATO actions against Russia.
Kissinger understood the realities of the world and had he been Secretary of State in 2003, there might have been no Iraq war. He was more intelligent than his successors such as Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, or Condoleeza Rice. Kissinger knew he was a thug and despite his lack of ethics and morality, his form of diplomacy would have made the wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Ukraine unlikely.
Greece and Cyprus continue the struggle to undo Kissinger’s legacy. The Kurds will also remember him. Kissinger sold out the Iraqi Kurds in the 1970’s who were massacred by the Baathist regime.
To Miss/Msrs. Liouliou
I am writing to you once again to bring to the attention of UNESCO the ongoing desecration and defilement of the great Hagia Sophia Church-Museum of Constantinople.
Latest news reports refer to the latest problems that Hagia Sophia suffers as a result of official government policies aimed at the Ottomanization of this Greek Orthodox
shrine. The latest news about Hagia Sophia include dire warnings that the dome may very well collapse in the event of an earthquake. Pieces of the ceiling above are
reportedly falling to the ground.
The floor of Hagia Sophia has previously been reported as having been damaged. The Imperial gates through which Greek Orthodox Emperors of Constantinople once entered the Church to worship Christ have been damaged. Also, it was previously reported that the walls are being damaged because too many people are being
permitted to enter the Church-Museum on a daily basis.
On 1 December 2021, you kindly responded to a previous letter that I had sent and referred me to a published report that UNESCO had done in the aftermath of the
Ottomanization of Hagia Sophia. I thank you for your letter and for referring me to that report. I further request an update regarding UNESCO’s activities aimed at monitoring activities within Hagia Sophia and would like to ask what is being done for the preservation of Hagia Sophia?
If the present destruction of Hagia Sophia continues, the entire Church-Museum could be permanently lost. For the secular world, this would mean the loss of a world heritage site. Admittedly, a very serious loss. For those of us of Orthodox Christian faith and Greek ancestry, the destruction of Hagia Sophia would be even more catastrophic as this Church is the center of our spiritual heritage.
All scholars and experts on Hagia Sophia are aware that the Great Church is named for Christ himself and for this alone Christians are horrified and appalled by the callous and insensitive attitude of the Turkish government which insisted on the deChristianization of Hagia Sophia. I respectfully ask that UNESCO continue not only to monitor the desecration of Hagia Sophia, but that the organization actively work to protest and condemn all actions in Hagia Sophia that have taken place over the past three years, and which continue to take place.
Thank you
Theodore Karakostas
Author and Greek Orthodox theologian
Boston, MA
Greek City Times reports on the risk that the dome of Hagia Sophia could collapse in the event of an earthquake. It is asserted that pieces from the ceiling are falling because of the humidity caused by too many visitors. This is an indictment of the appalling mistreatment of the Great Church by the Erdogan government.
It will be a loss for the world if Hagia Sophia is destroyed. It will be a bigger loss to Orthodox Christians and Greeks specifically if the damage to Hagia Sophia continues unabated. There is still time for UNESCO and the academic community to raise their voices.
The fight for Hagia Sophia did not end when the conversion took place during the summer of 2020. While there has been serious damage to the Church-Museum, Hagia Sophia still exists and remains worth fighting for. The academic community remained silent in the run up to the conversion of Hagia Sophia. The historians and scholars of Byzantium can speak up now.