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Greece And Turkey

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.

Published commentaries

On Henry Kissinger

GUEST VIEWPOINTS

On Henry Kissinger

December 8, 2023

The National Herald

By Theodore Karakostas

Henry Kissinger

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.

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.

cinema

Napoleon

Post author By admin
Post date December 8, 2023
1 Comment on Napoleon

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.

Letters

Letter To New York Times

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

political

Henry Kissinger

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.

Letters

Letter To UNESCO

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

faith

Hagia Sophia Diaries 31

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.

political

Britain Snubs Mitsotakis

British Prime Minister Rushi Sunak cancelled a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Greek Prime Minister is rightfully offended, but he should not be surprised. The British are not now and have never been friends of Greece.

There are many Englishmen who have been philhellenes ranging from Lord Byron to Christopher Hitchens. There are many academics who have love Hellenism and Byzantium. However, the British government is no friend of Greece or Hellenism.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis gave an interview in which he asserted Greece’s justifiable claims to the Parthenon marbles. The British Prime Minister not being content with asserting British claims arrogantly cancelled a scheduled meeting with Mitsotakis who is visiting London. Greece should find a diplomatic way of retaliating by expelling one or two British diplomats from Greece.

The British snub should not be permitted to go unanswered. Greek leaders with an inferiority complex in awe of Europe and all things western have forgotten the role of the British (and other western powers) in Greece’s defeat in Asia Minor in 1922.

The British role in Cyprus is especially evil. The British invited Turkey to have a say in Cyprus during the 1950’s in order to stop EOKA’s heroic campaign to achieve union between Cyprus and Greece. Many Greek Cypriots ended up at the end of a British rope at that time.

Sherrie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair was a lawyer for British citizens who have “purchased” the homes of Greek Cypriots in occupied Cyprus. The British up to the present time are playing a destructive role in Cyprus.

Mitsotakis has harmed relations with Russia and Iran in order to curry favor with the west. This snub by the British should be a lesson as to how poorly Greece is looked upon not only by the British, but by the west as a whole. At a minimum, Athens needs to call in the British ambassador to lodge a protest and needs to consider expelling British diplomats in retaliation for the snub.

political

Another Great Candidate

Vivek Ramaswamy has emerged as a great Presidential candidate for the Republican nomination. First, his recent article in the American Conservative about the genocide perpetrated by Azerbaijan against the Armenians was fantastic. Ramaswamy has also been vocal in debates and in interviews about the Armenians.

Greek Americans should take notice. Pro Armenian candidates will translate to Pro Greek candidates. Furthermore, like Trump Ramaswamy is an America firster who rejects empire and an aggressive warmongering foreign policy. Advocates of foreign wars and empire will by necessity embrace Turkey. The best way to cut off Turkey is to vote for anti interventionist candidates against foreign wars. That there is a candidate espousing the Armenian cause is even better.

In addition, Ramaswamy has condemned the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the regime in Kiev. Ramaswamy specifically mentioned the Church persecution in a debate. Ramaswamy has pointed out the Nazi ties of Ukrainian President Zelensky.

This is a man very well informed about history and foreign affairs. He is a superior candidate to neoconservative stooges such as Nikki Haley and Ron Desantis. Desantis is a good man and has governed Florida well. His heroic fight against LGTB ideology deserves praise. His foreign policy credentials however are lacking.

So Trump and Ramaswamy represent the two strongest candidates for President. A ticket of Trump and Ramaswamy for Vice President would be a dream ticket. Ramaswamy’s candidacy means that Trump’s ideas are catching on. Of course, the anti war and anti empire stance in recent history was espoused by the now retired Patrick Buchanan.

In any case, the fight against the neocons and warmongers (friends of Turkey) is alive. Trump’s ideas are catching on and it will be a great legacy if the Republican Party maintains an anti war and anti empire posture in the post Trump era.

Letters

Letter To Deputy Secretary Of State

Post author By admin
Post date November 18, 2023
No Comments on Letter To Deputy Secretary Of State

Dear Deputy Secretary of State,

My name is Theodore Karakostas and I am an American of Greek Orthodox faith. I wish to protest the brutal and vicious crackdown against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (not to be confused with the artificially created Orthodox Church of Ukraine) by the Ukrainian authorities. This letter is not political but is intended as a public declaration of my Orthodox Christian faith. There are at least four bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are being prosecuted by the Ukrainian government.

In addition to this, there are dozens of Churches that have been seized by the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and its followers from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church through violent and brutal means and clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been assaulted. I am aware of the horrific crisis emanating as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. I am opposed to the war in Ukraine and believe war can never be justified through faith as Orthodoxy does not endorse either jihads or Crusades.

The persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been under way since long before February 2022. Several years before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian authorities began persecuting the Ukrainian Church. Much of what has transpired results from the decision of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to grant “autocephaly” to the Church in Ukraine. Firstly, as a matter of Canon Law and Orthodox ecclesiology Patriarch Bartholomew had and has no right to intervene in the internal affairs of autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been a part of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1686 and no sinister connotations can or should be inferred by the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction over Ukraine. If we are going to link ecclesiastical jurisdiction and borders with politics, American and other western officials should be reminded that the Vatican was once under the rule of Mussolini and later the Nazi occupation of Rome. American and other western governments never attempted to take away any parts of the Catholic Church from the Papacy.

Under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the State Department violated the religious freedom not just of members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but of all Orthodox Christians everywhere. In addition to Mr. Pompeo, former Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt overstepped his bounds when he interfered
blatantly in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church of Greece. At one point, Ambassador Pyatt gave a speech at the Greek office of Foreign Affairs in which he commented on the Greek Church’s position on Ukrainian Church matters. Such comments on internal Church matters are profoundly insulting to Orthodox Christians as American officials are treating the true Church of Christ like some political party of non governmental organization.

Orthodox Christians believe the Orthodox Church is the true Church founded by Christ in the Gospel. The purpose of the Church is to serve as a hospital for sinners and not to serve political interests (especially that of an administration that is now scandalously promoting the abuse of children through the
neo pagan LGBT agenda). Some of us have become uneasy about remaining members in the dioceses under the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of the Patriarch’s violation of Orthodox canon law in Ukraine and the State Department’s involvement in the matter.

Within the United States itself, it is unconstitutional for the government to make a declaration about any particular faith. Yet, the State Department’s support for the defacto partition of the Russian Orthodox Church and the establishment of the illegitimate “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” is an intrusion into Church affairs as the Department has effectively declared what constitutes a “Church”. The State Department has effectively determined that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not only invalid but deserves to be actively persecuted and outlawed as the government of Kiev is attempting to outlaw the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

There is a great deal of misery and grief that has resulted from this entire Church issue in Ukraine. The Orthodox Church is hampered from serving its spiritual mission as long as secular interests interfere with it. The Ukrainian Church as mentioned above has been part of the Russian Church since 1686 and its status is not something that came about recently. The idea that the Russian Church is serving some sort of sinister political plot is blatantly false. The Orthodox Church might have very well come together to actively oppose the war in Ukraine had Patriarch Bartholomew not recklessly invaded the ecclesiastical territory of Ukraine that does not belong to Constantinople.

The canonical territory of all local Orthodox Churches are determined by canon law and the conciliar traditions of the Orthodox Church. These matters are outside the scope and interests of the foreign policy establishment. Patriarch Bartholomew has created the worst schism in the Orthodox Church since the eleventh century. Orthodox Christians (including myself) are bitterly criticizing him over his policies which are motivated by his hunger for power.

I respectfully and humbly request from your office two things. First, to condemn the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on moral and legal grounds. The State Department has supported the creation of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” under the pretext of religious freedom. Religious freedom means that all individuals should be free to worship where and how they wish to. This means Ukrainians should be free to attend either the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. Let individuals worship where they please.

The second request is to ask that your office take the initiative to disavow any interference in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church. This means no further commentaries or actions in terms of what constitutes an Orthodox Church. The State Department should be neutral and not side with any faction within Orthodoxy. This means disavowing support for Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims of authority over the Orthodox Church which are rejected by many Orthodox bishops, priests, theologians, monastics, and laypeople.

The United States can not claim to support religious freedom when it in effect presumes to declare what is or is not a legitimate Church as it has done in Ukraine. These actions in Ukraine have reverberated throughout the whole of Orthodoxy and in my particular case has seriously disrupted my spiritual life as the threat of a great Church schism remains.

I respectfully ask that the State Department return to its role as a neutral observer and respect the religious traditions and boundaries of the Orthodox Church as they have stood for many centuries.

Thank you

Theodore Karakostas

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