May 4, 2009

2009 Greek American Policy Statements

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Prepared by
American Hellenic Institute

Endorsed by

American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association
Hellenic American National Council
Cyprus Federation of America
Pan-Cretan Association of America
Pan-Macedonian Association of America
Chios Societies of America
Pan-Pontian Federation of U.S.A. and Canada
United Hellenic Federation of Northern California
Armenian National Committee of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Policy Themes

Greece

Aegean Sea Boundary
FYROM Name Recognition
Greek Minority in Albania
Visa Waiver Program

Cyprus

Support A Solution by Cypriots for Cypriots
Turkey’s New Threat to Peace

Ecumenical Patriarchate & Halki Theological School

Recognize the Greek Pontian Genocide

Turkey

Critical Review of U.S. Policy toward Turkey Needed

Exhibit One

Roster of Organizational Endorsements

Introduction

The policies set forth herein are based in each case on the question of what is in the best interests of the United States.
The United States has important interests in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. These include the significant energy, commercial and communications resources that transit the region.

These policy statements deal primarily with U.S. relations with Greece, Cyprus and Turkey as they bear on overall U.S. interests in the region. For ease of presentation, each policy statement is broken down into three sections: 1) The Issue; 2) Recent Developments; and 3) Our Position. When appropriate, we provided the position of President Barack Obama as demonstrated in his actions as a U.S. senator or as presented in presidential campaign statements.

Our Web site, www.ahiworld.org, will be a resource for the latest developments affecting U.S. interests in the region, tracking legislation in the 111th Congress that pertains to our policy statements, and, if needed, additional detailed background information about each issue.

Please contact us with any questions about the 2009 Greek American Policy Statements. Thank you for your interest in Greek American issues.

Sincerely,

Nick Larigakis
Executive Director & Chairman, AHI Policy Committee

Policy Themes

Since its founding in 1974, AHI has consistently advocated the following policy themes as in the best interests of the United States:

• In the spirit of the following presidential statements, U.S. interests are best served by applying American values spearheaded by the rule of law in international affairs.

“There can be no peace without law. And there can be no law if we were to invoke one code of international conduct for those who oppose us and another for our friends.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower, condemning the invasion of Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel in his October 31, 1956, television and radio report to the nation on the Suez Crisis. President Eisenhower’s actions halted and reversed the aggression.

"We are united in the belief that Iraq's aggression must not be tolerated. No peaceful international order is possible if larger states can devour their smaller neighbors….[W]e are determined to see this aggression end, and if the current steps fail to end it, we are prepared to consider additional ones consistent with the U.N. Charter. We must demonstrate beyond any doubt that aggression cannot and will not pay." Joint Statement by President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on September 9,1990.

“We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations.” President George H.W. Bush, on January 16, 1991, the day the Persian Gulf air war began against Iraqi forces.

“Most Americans know instinctively why we are in the Gulf…They know that we need to build a new, enduring peace based not on arms races and confrontation but on shared principles and the rule of law.” President George H.W. Bush’s January 29, 1991, State of the Union address.

“This is a victory for the United Nations, for all mankind, for the rule of law and for what is right.” President George H.W. Bush’s February 27, 1991 announcement to the nation that “Kuwait is liberated.”

“We seek for Cyprus a constitutional democracy based on majority rule, the rule of law, and the protection of minority rights….I want to see a democratic Cyprus free from the threat of war.” Presidential candidate Vice President George H. W. Bush statement on July 7, 1988 in a speech in Boston.          

“A Cyprus settlement should be consistent with the fundamental principles of human rights and democratic norms and practices.” Statement by presidential candidate Governor Bill Clinton in 1992.

• As clearly set forth in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and other U.S. statutes, U.S. foreign policy is required to foster and embody U.S. values, including human rights.
  
  
• The United States. should have a “special relationship” with Greece, recognizing Greece’s strategic location in Southeastern Europe where the U.S. has important political, economic, commercial, and military interests. Greece’s proven reliability as a strategic ally, makes Greece a pivotal nation for the advancement of U.S. interests in southeastern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. The naval and air bases at Souda Bay, Crete, are the key bases for the United States in the eastern Mediterranean.
  
  
• A Cyprus settlement should not reward aggression, but should be based on democratic norms, United Nations (UN) resolutions, the European Union (EU) acquis communautaire and the pertinent decisions of the European Commission on Human Rights, the European Court on Human Rights and of other European courts. Cyprus should be recognized as an important partner for U.S. strategic interests in the eastern Mediterranean.
  
  
• The United States use of a double standard on the rule of law regarding Turkey and appeasement of Turkey harms the U.S. promotion of the rule of law, human rights, liberty, democracy and freedom in the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and universally.
  
  
• U.S. interests are best served by supporting rapprochement between Greece and Turkey based on the rule of law and democratic norms.
  
  
• U.S. interests are best served by promoting Turkey’s emergence as a fully democratic state regardless of whether she accedes to the EU.

Greece

Greece is an immensely valuable link for the United States in the region. We have stated for decades that Greece is the strategic, political and economic key for the United States in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean and a proven and reliable ally. We call for a special relationship between the United States and Greece for the mutual benefit of both countries.

Adhere to International Law in the Aegean Sea
       
The Issue
Turkey has made outrageous claims devoid of any legal basis to one-half of the Aegean Sea, disputing Greece’s sovereignty over the Dodecanese Islands. Turkey refuses to take its maritime boundary claim to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for a binding ruling. Despite the opening of accession negotiations with the EU and Greece’s sincere efforts to achieve complete normalization in relations with Turkey, the latter, as its official policy, continues to threaten Greece with war (casus belli) and promotes claims that are unfounded and devoid of any legal basis. These claims disregard all relevant treaties and agreements in force.

The United States is a signatory to the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty under which the Dodecanese Islands and adjacent islets were ceded by Italy to Greece. Therefore, the United States is obligated by U.S. law to carry out the treaty’s provisions. However, the State Department has refused to declare publicly what the law is.

As a result, the Turkish military routinely violates Greek national airspace, violations that are becoming increasingly deeper over time with numerous flights over Greek insular territories.

Recent Developments

• Jan. 7, 2009: Greece formally protested to Turkey that the latter violated Greece’s airspace with flights over two inhabited Aegean Islands, Farmakonisi and Agathonisi.
  
  
• Jan. 14, 2009: A Turkish frigate sailed in Greek territorial waters just off Greece’s mainland near Athens in a manner not consistent with international law.
  
  
• These are the latest in a recent series of incidents that began in November 2008 when a research vessel, acting on behalf of a Turkish Petroleum State Company and accompanied by a Turkish frigate, attempted to conduct research on the Greek continental shelf.

Our Position

• Turkey must publicly state that it accepts -- as final -- the demarcation of the maritime border between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean Sea as defined by relevant treaties. This will repudiate any challenge by Turkey to the treaty-defined boundary. Past and current U.S. policy has not had this effect.
  
  
• We call on Turkey to adhere to international law and legal procedures with respect to any dispute it has with Greece in the Aegean Sea.
  
  
• The United States should publicly state that the maritime boundary in the Aegean is the boundary set forth in the treaties listed in Footnote 1.

The outstanding name issue regarding the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

The Issue

Since antiquity, the name Macedonia has referred to a geographical region, not to a nationality. Macedonia was part of the ancient Hellenic world much like Sparta and Athens. Its population worshipped the same Hellenic Gods, spoke the same Hellenic language and participated in the Olympic Games which, at the time, were open to Greeks only.

When Marshal Tito fashioned the puppet “Socialist Republic of Macedonia” from the southern Yugoslav province of Vardarska-Banovina in December 1944, he did so to foment disorder in northern Greece in furtherance of his plan to communize the Balkan Peninsula and gain control of the key port city of Thessaloniki.  “Macedonian” nationalism was a product of Tito's fabrications.

In December 1944, the United States vigorously opposed the use of the name “Macedonia” by Tito. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., in a Circular Airgram (Dec. 26, 1944) stated:

U.S. policy was valid then and it should be valid now. The Truman Doctrine and massive financial aid under the Marshall Plan foiled Tito’s hopes for communizing Greece.

The State Department’s negation of previous U.S. policy on November 4, 2004 by its recognition of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as the “Republic of Macedonia” was not in the best interest of the United States. The decision ignored historical truths recognized by the United States for decades. It was a disrespectful act directed toward a staunch NATO ally in the Balkans, Greece. We believe this is harmful to U.S. interests in the Balkans. Today, Greece is the paragon of stability in the Balkans. It has no territorial claims against any of its neighbors and it is the largest source of foreign investment, aid and employment in the FYROM.

Today, geographic Macedonia is within the borders of at least three countries. Only a small portion of geographic Macedonia lies within the FYROM, whose populations is one-third Albanian and two-thirds Slavic in origin. The largest part of geographic Macedonia lies within Greece in the Greek province of Macedonia. FYROM promulgates propaganda in which it claims portions of Greek territory and usurps Greek national identity and culture.  The only practical solution is a name which does not imply that FYROM has or could exercise any form of political sovereignty over any portion of ancient or traditional Macedonia which lies outside the present borders of the FYROM.  Any denomination which contains the term “Macedonia” whether in a compound or composite denomination, which denotes a “Macedonian Nation” and in any way conflates the national identity and territory of FYROM with the national identity and territory of any other country, must be prohibited.   

Recent Developments

In April 2008, the members of the NATO Alliance agreed not to invite the FYROM into the Alliance until a mutually agreed upon denomination for that country had been reached under the auspices of the United Nations. All NATO members urged that a mutually agreed solution be found as soon as possible. Unfortunately, instead of acting in good faith, the FYROM generated propaganda that depicted the Greek flag with a Nazi swastika instead of the Cross that appears in upper left-hand corner of the flag, and published portraits of the Greek prime minister dressed in a Nazi uniform.

• Nov. 17, 2008: FYROM instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice against Greece for “a flagrant violation of its obligations under Article 11” of the 1995 Interim Accord. FYROM contends that Greece violated its rights under Article 11 by vetoing FYROM’s application to join NATO. We note that there was no veto exercised by Greece and it was a consensus of all the NATO members that stipulated that an invitation to FYROM would be extended when the name issue is resolved.
  
  
• April 5, 2009: Conservative Gjorgje Ivanov won a presidential run-off in FYROM. "Our first task will be to resolve the name issue with our southern neighbour Greece," Ivanov told Reuters."I am sure we can find common interest and compromise." However, a recent photo of the recent photo of the president in his office shows him with the outlawed flag of the FYROM with the classical Hellenic symbol of the Vergina sun.
  
  
• On May 15, 2009, at a press conference in Athens, the outgoing NATO chief, Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said: “I must add, openly and frankly, that after a visit I paid to Skopje last week, my optimism has not grown, in listening to the authorities in Skopje. And I do hope that also they will realize that, for a solution for the name issue, they have to show flexibility.”

Examples of Provocations Against Greece

Since he assumed his duties as the prime minister of the FYROM in August, 2006, Nikola Gruevski followed a long-term policy of extreme nationalism and provocation against Greece in conflict with European values. His actions are a breach of the U.N.-brokered Interim Accord and erode efforts to build trust and good neighborly relations.

• December 2006: Provocations begin when Gruevski renamed Skopje’s international airport “Alexander the Great.”
  
  
• January 2009: Gruevski named that nation’s main highway after “Alexander the Great” to the dismay of EU officials. (Note: This highway project is partially financed by Greece, which pledged $75 million as part of its Hellenic Plan for the Reconstruction of the Balkans.)
  
  
• Gruevski renamed Skopje’s main stadium after “Philip II, the Macedon.”
  
  
• After making a commitment to cease use of the “Sun of Vergina” per the Interim Accord, the FYROM reintroduced this Hellenic symbol as the symbol of its country in television advertising spots currently running internationally, including in the United States. 
  
  
• Gruevski has been pictured in public ceremonies with a map of his country that included the Greek province of Macedonia all the way south to Mount Olympus as one united political entity.
  
  
• Gruevski has erected numerous newly created duplicates of Ancient Macedonian Hellenic personalities and has renamed streets and squares for them in various places of the FYROM. More recently, he has commissioned a $5 million project to erect a 20-meter statue of Alexander the Great in the center of Skopje.

These provocative acts, which offend Greece and its citizens, demonstrate the FYROM’s continued ignorance of the basic principle of good neighborly relations. Moreover, we contend the acts do not embrace policies compatible with EU or Euro-Atlantic values and standards.

President Obama’s Position

• While in the Senate, Barack Obama was one of three original lead co-sponsors of S.Res.300 in the 110th Congress, which urged the FYROM to work with Greece within a UN framework to reach a mutually acceptable official name for the FYROM.
  
  
• In a campaign statement released in October 2008, presidential candidate Obama stated: “…[He] support[s] the UN-led negotiations and believe[s] that there can and should be an agreement between Skopje and Athens on a mutually-acceptable name that leads to greater stability in the Balkans.”

Our Position

The immediate settlement of the name issue, in a way that is mutually acceptable to both Greece and the FYROM, will allow the United States’ strongest ally in the Balkans, Greece, to be the driving force for FYROM’s membership to NATO and ultimately the EU. This will create stability for U.S. interests in the Balkans. Furthermore, the final name must apply for all internal and international uses (erga omnes).

The Interim Accord signed by Greece and the FYROM in 1995 required negotiations for a new name for the FYROM. However, no breakthrough has been made since 1995 and today the negotiations are stalemated because the FRYOM maintains that the only name that is acceptable to them is its original “constitutional” name of “Republic of Macedonia,” which was and is problematic for Greece.

The State Department’s decision on November 4, 2004, to recognize the FYROM as the “Republic of Macedonia” was counter-productive and made the FYROM more obstinate in its will to negotiate for a new name and its desire to continue its provocative propaganda against Greece.

Therefore, we ask the Obama Administration to:

• Persuade the FYROM to negotiate in good faith with Greece to resolve the name issue and to cease immediately their propaganda against Greece, propaganda which violates the U.N.-brokered Interim Accord, as stated in Article 7 paragraph 1 of the Accord, signed in New York, September 13, 1995, between the FYROM and Greece.

If the FYROM refuses to cooperate, the United States must consider withdrawing its 2004 recognition of FYROM as the “Republic of Macedonia.” Once a mutually acceptable denomination for the FRYOM has been reached in the UN-sponsored talks, we call on our government to recognize that state by that denomination only.

Furthermore, we call on Congress to:

• Oppose foreign aid to the FYROM that is not tied in to the FYROM’s commitment to negotiate in good faith with Greece to find a mutually acceptable official name for the FYROM.
  
  
• Introduce and pass legislation urging the FYROM to cease its use of propaganda that violates provisions of the UN-brokered Interim Agreement between Greece and the FYROM and that further urges FYROM to work with Greece to find a mutually acceptable official name for FYROM under U.N. auspices. (See H.Res.356/S.Res.300 in the 110th Congress).

Protect The Greek Minority in Albania

The Issue

Under the veil of economic development, the Albanian government led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, tolerates the organized violation of the rule of law, basic human rights of ethnic minorities, and property rights, including illegal seizures of property.

In 2004, Berisha won re-election, returning to office after his previous regime collapsed in 1997 following widespread systemic corruption. During his initial regime in the 1990s, Berisha targeted the Greek minority with heavy-handed tactics that included harassment and violence by security forces, setting fire to schools, churches, and businesses; and the arrest of the Greek minority’s leadership, which was detained for six months before unspecified charges were filed. The United States, due to the efforts of the Greek American community and Greece, worked to reverse these policies.

Recently, Berisha has reverted back to his policy of persecuting the ethnic Greek minority of southern Albania. This time, Berisha’s strategy utilizes the assistance of international organizations, for example the World Bank, to legitimize economic development efforts that in effect will diminish or eliminate the ethnic Greek minority of southern Albania near the Ionian Sea. An example is the “Albanian Southern Coast Development Plan,” which draws heavily upon tourism as the main thrust of the plan’s success.

Furthermore, although Albania successfully sought a census to measure the Albanian minority in the neighboring FYROM, its government resists the demand of the European Union to measure its minorities so it can continue to claim that the Greek minority is small when it constitutes at least 10 percent of Albania’s 3.5 million population.

Recent Developments

• In 2004, the Albanian government leased 70 hectares of land in the Cheimarra province of Albania, which has been inhabited by ethnic Greeks for centuries, to Riviera, a private construction company, for 99 years. There are 120 private individuals, and the Albanian Orthodox Church, that claim ownership of parcels that comprise this property.
  
  
• Sept. 19, 2008: the “Commission for the Return of Properties,” a body created by Berisha, rejected applications of the 120 ownership claims of the properties.
  
  
• In November 2008, a series of incidents occurred as truck convoys attempted to bring building and fencing materials into the towns and villages of Cheimarra on behalf of Riviera. Local inhabitants protested, leading to the arrival of the police and a private security squad. Subsequent clashes and arrests followed. Threatened with violence, some inhabitants removed their families for safety reasons.
  
  
• Jan. 9, 2009: 200 Albanian police riot units raided the town of Kakomaia in the province of Cheimarra in an effort to help Riviera forcibly seize properties claimed by local residents who are ethnic Greeks.

Our Position

• The United States should undertake intense diplomatic dialogue with the Albanian government to ensure that the rule of law is observed and that minority rights, basic human rights, and property rights are protected. An adherence to these basic values and principles are expected of a nation with aspirations to join the EU.
  
  
• A proper accounting, via census, to measure the minority population of Albania must be conducted.

Advance Greece’s Entry into the Visa Waiver Program

The Issue

Greece’s participation in the United States’ Visa Waiver Program is of high importance to Greece, a NATO ally with shared democratic values.

Greece has met all of the technical requirements to be a member of the VWP. Its new machine-readable passports comply with all relevant provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Previous U.S. administration officials have recognized that Greece’s new “state of the art” passports should serve as a model for other countries, including those that are in the VWP. In addition, if a Greek passport is lost or stolen, both Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Interpol database (EASF), to which the United States has direct access, are immediately updated.

Greece is one of 15 European nations accepted as a Schengen country, allowing for travel through Europe as if you are traveling throughout the United States. Greece is the only Schengen country excluded from participating in the Visa Waiver Program.

In addition, Greece’s visa refusal rate for FY07 was 1.6 percent, according to a September 2008 Government Accountability Office report. This is well below the maximum required refusal rate of 3 percent.

In September 2007, the State Department formally nominated Greece to be a candidate country for the VWP. However, since that time, eight countries have been admitted into the VWP that have not been formally nominated by the State Department nor possess the same excellent criteria as Greece.

Recent Developments

• In late 2008, the United States and Greece began work on three technical agreements that Greece must sign to gain entry into the VWP. These technical agreements continue to be worked on well into 2009.

Our Position

• The Departments of Homeland Security and State must work with the Greek government to ensure all technical agreements are signed in an efficient manner.
  
  
• We oppose legislation that seeks to limit or prohibit further expansion of the VWP that would also prohibit Greece from participating in the VWP.

Cyprus

Cyprus is an important nation for U.S. interests in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, and is a key partner on counter-terrorism and security issues.  Cyprus shares the U.S.’ core values of freedom, democracy and adherence to the rule of law.  It is also a member of the EU, and the first EU nation to sign the U.S.’ Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).  Cyprus is a Western-oriented country and it is vital to U.S. interests that it remains so.

Support a Solution Reached by Cypriots for Cypriots

The Issue

On July 20, 1974, Turkey invaded the Republic of Cyprus with the illegal use of U.S.-supplied arms and equipment in violation of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, the UN Charter article 2 (4), the preamble and article 1 of the NATO Treaty, and customary international law. Turkey occupied about 4 percent of Cyprus during the initial phase of its invasion. Turkish pilots flying American planes dropped American-made bombs (including napalm bombs) on Greek Cypriot communities.

On August 14, 1974, three weeks after the legitimate government of Cyprus was restored, Turkey launched the second phase of its invasion of Cyprus. In the second phase, Turkey grabbed another 33 percent of the island, expanding its land grab to nearly 40 percent of Cyprus’s sovereign territory; killed innocent civilians, raped women from the ages of 12-71, forced 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes and property, and committed mass destruction of property including churches. The Turkish army has continued to occupy this territory ever since. Furthermore, to secure its land grab of Cypriot territory, Turkey has illegally settled northern, occupied Cyprus with more than 180,000 Turks from Anatolia in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949, Section III, Article 4, which prohibits colonization by an occupying power.

Recent Developments

• July 2006: The government of Cyprus and Greek Cypriots played an exceptional role in evacuating nearly 15,000 Americans from Lebanon during the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
  
  
• July 8, 2006: Then Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat reach a UN-brokered agreement to resume direct talks to find a Cyprus solution based on UN Security Council resolutions. UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari initiated this effort.
  
  
• Feb. 24, 2008: Demetris Christofias was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, and on March 21, 2008, President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Talat began to meet under the UN framework agreement. They have held 20 rounds of direct talks since.

President Obama’s Position

• In a campaign statement released October 2008, presidential candidate Obama stated: “As president, [he] will show U.S. leadership in seeking to negotiate a political settlement on Cyprus. [He] believe[s] strongly that Cyprus remain a single, sovereign country…within a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation…A negotiated political settlement on Cyprus would end the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus and repair the island’s tragic division while paving the way to prosperity and peace throughout the entire region.”
  
  
• April 6, 2009: In his address to the Turkish Parliament, President Obama affirmed the rule of law as the basis for reunifying Cyprus.

Our Position

We specifically endorse the following statement by Vice President George H. W. Bush, made in a presidential campaign speech in Boston on July 7, 1988:

Furthermore, we:

• Support a settlement of the Cyprus problem through negotiations based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in a state with a single sovereignty and international personality, incorporating the norms of a constitutional democracy embracing key American principles, the EU acquis communautaire, UN resolutions on Cyprus, the pertinent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and of other European Court -- as is the best interests of the United States.
  
  
• Call for the withdrawal of Turkey’s 43,000 occupation troops illegally in Cyprus and the return to Turkey of the 180,000 illegal settlers/colonists from Turkey in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949.
  
  
• Urge the U.S. government to direct Turkey to tear down the green line barbed wire fence across the face of Cyprus, making Nicosia the last divided capital in Europe.
  
  
• Contend Ankara must not manipulate the current direct talks or restrict Mr. Talat during negotiations. A solution that is reached must be one for Cypriots by Cypriots.

Moreover, we urge Congress to:

• Introduce and pass legislation that calls for the demilitarization of Cyprus, the return of the illegal settlers/colonists to Turkey, and a solution to the Cyprus problem based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in a state with single sovereignty and international personality. (See S.Res.331/H.Res.320; H.Res.407in the 110th Congress)

Advancing these positions would underscore support for the rule of law and respect for international law. It would illustrate that the United States truly wishes to advance the cause of solving the 35-year-old Cyprus problem. Continuing former failed policies that promote a double standard in applying the rule of law to Turkey and the continuing appeasement of Turkey does not serve U.S. interests.

Turkey’s new threat to Peace

The Issue

The Cyprus government signed an agreement with Lebanon and Egypt on February 17, 2003, for joint exploration of oil and natural gas in an area 125 miles wide between Cyprus and the Mediterranean’s southern coast.

We note with concern that the Turkish government has threatened to block exploration asserting -- incredibly -- that it has rights in the area. Turkey, which is 40 miles from the northern coast of Cyprus, has no rights in the continental shelf of Cyprus, or in the area.

Turkey’s threats against Cyprus and in effect, Lebanon and Egypt, regarding the oil and gas exploration agreements puts Turkey in direct violation of the UN Charter preamble and article 2, paragraph 4, and the NATO Treaty Preamble and Article 1.

Recent Developments

On March 5, 2007, former U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Ronald Schlicher made a forthright statement that Cyprus is a sovereign country and has the right to conclude agreements with Lebanon and Egypt. In response to questions regarding Turkey’s comments on Cyprus’ right to exploit possible oil and gas reserves in its economic zone, Ambassador Schlicher said:

• March 29, 2007: Then Senate Foreign Affairs Chairman Joe Biden, stated on the Senate Floor: “The Government of the Republic of Cyprus, ROC, is working to establish partnerships with foreign companies and countries in an effort to bring these energy resources online. This process is being needlessly complicated, however, by individuals in Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community who are discouraging foreign partners from working with the ROC….I believe it is important to affirm the ROC’s right to search for and develop resources located under Cyprus’ continental shelf.
  
  He continued: “Under international law, there is no question about the legality of the Cypriot Government’s activities…There is simply no juridical basis to dispute Cyprus’ claims or actions.”
  
  
• Nov. 24, 2008: Cyprus reported Turkey interfered with an offshore oil-and-gas survey conducted by two Norwegian-owned survey ships, ordering the ships to leave the area.
  

Our Position

We call on the U.S. government to:

• Condemn Turkey’s threats.
  
  
• Inform Turkey that its threats violate the UN Charter preamble and article 2(4) and the NATO Treaty preamble and article 1. We note that the agreements have been concluded between sovereign states and conform to the various treaties on the law of the sea.
• 

Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology

The Issue

The Turkish government has tolerated assaults against its Greek Orthodox Christian religious minority, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and continues the illegal closure of the Greek Orthodox Halki Patriarchal School of Theology in Istanbul. These actions violate U.S. principles and law on freedom of religion as expressed in Section 2804 of the FY98 Omnibus Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (PL 105-277). This law calls for the Turkish government to safeguard the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its personnel, and its property, and to reopen the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in North America, led a panel discussion at the U.S. Helsinki Commission on March 16, 2005, which presented a clear picture of how religious human rights violations by the Turkish government have been working to exterminate the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Christian community in that country. The panel briefing “highlighted Turkey’s systemic efforts to undermine the Orthodox Church, violating numerous international treaties to which it has agreed.”

Archbishop Demetrios and Dr. Anthony Limberakis, National Commander, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, “detailed the severe restrictions on property ownership which have allowed the government to confiscate nearly 7,000 properties from the Ecumenical Patriarchate since 1936,” according to the panel briefing. It added: “Behind them stood placard-size photos of the most recently seized property, an orphanage on Buyukada island which once housed hundreds of homeless children.”

U.S. Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Congressman Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) stated: “The concern of this Commission is the protection of religious rights and freedoms. Turkey’s treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate violates its obligations under international human rights law.”

Under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), the president of the United States is obligated to oppose violations of religious freedom in any country whose government “engages in or tolerates violations of religious freedom and promote the right to religious freedom in that country.” The Act further obligates the president to take one or more of 15 enumerated actions with respect to any such country.

Recent Developments     

• In July 2008, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in FENER RUM PATRIKLIGI (ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE) v. TURKEY, issued a unanimous verdict in favor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which condemned Turkey for improperly seizing property (in this case the historic Patriarchal orphanage located off the coast of Istanbul) without compensation. Moreover, the ruling is extremely important because it confirms that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has an international legal personality, a status which the Turkish government denies. Religious minorities in Turkey are not recognized as legal personalities, and therefore, cannot own property. The unanimous verdict of 7 out of 7 votes included that of the Turkish judge on the ECHR.
  
  
• In December. 2008, a Turkish foreign ministry report submitted to the Turkish parliament denigrates the “minority” presence of the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey and refuses to recognize the “ecumenical” character of the patriarchate. It also excluded the possibility of reopening the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology in the name of state secularism.
  
  
• March 3, 2009: ECHR unanimously ruled, in BOZCAADA KIMISIS TEODOKU RUM ORTODOKS KILISESI VAKFI v. TURKEY, that Turkey violated the property rights of a Greek Orthodox Church on the Aegean island of Bozcaada. The court said Turkish authorities illegally prevented a Greek Orthodox foundation, which is the rightful owner of the Kimisis Teodoku church, from registering its property. Judges ordered Turkey to pay the foundation 105,000 Euros in compensation. The unanimous verdict of 7 out of 7 votes included that of the Turkish representative.

President Obama’s Position

• In a campaign statement released in October 2008, presidential candidate Obama stated: “[He was] one of 73 Senators who signed a letter to President Bush in 2006 urging him to press Turkey to restore full rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate…[And that he had sent] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a personal letter on the same matter. [He called on] Turkey to respect the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s rights and freedoms, including its property rights. Turkey should allow the reopening of the Patriarchate’s school of theology on Halki Island and guarantee the right to train clergy of all nationalities, not just Turkish nationals.”
  
  
• April 6, 2009: President Obama stated before the Turkish parliament: “Freedom of religion and expression lead to a strong and vibrant civil society that only strengthens the state, which is why steps like reopening Halki Seminary will send such an important signal inside Turkey and beyond. An enduring commitment to the rule of law is the only way to achieve the security that comes from justice for all people. Robust minority rights let societies benefit from the full measure of contributions from all citizens.”

Our Position

The U.S. government must urge Turkey to:

• Implement and strictly enforce the guarantees of religious freedom and human and minority rights set forth in the Treaty of Lausanne, the UN Charter, other international agreements, and U.S. laws.
  
  
• Grant legal personality to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and safeguard it.
  
  
• Immediately reopen the Halki School of Theology and lift restrictions on the elections of the Patriarch.
  
  
• Promptly return nearly 7,000 illegally confiscated properties from the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Turkish government since 1936.
  
  
• Respect human and minority rights in Turkey.

In addition, the United States must implement provisions of the IRFA if these actions are not implemented by Turkey.

Furthermore, we call on Congress to adopt H.Res.236, legislation urging the Turkish government to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church.

Recognize Turkey’s Greek Pontian Genocide & Mistreatment of Greek Minority on Imbros & Tenedos

The Issue

On May 19, 2009, the Pontic communities around the world will commemorate the 94th anniversary of the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks. Their outright slaughter and expulsion by long death marches to exile between 1915-23 was first ordered by the Young Turk regime and then completed by Mustafa Kemal, later known as Atatürk. These genocidal policies caused the death of 353,000 Pontic Greeks, more than half their population, and brought a tragic and catastrophic end to their 3,000-year presence in the Black Sea region of Asia Minor, today’s Turkey.

We support the Pontian Greek American community’s efforts to secure full recognition and proper commemoration of the Greek Pontian Genocide, as well as an apology and full restitution.

For Background

We refer readers to Thea Halo’s book Not Even My Name, a remarkable memoir of her Pontic Greek mother’s life, which recounts her ancient way of life in the Pontic mountains, her 10-month-long death march to exile at the age of 10 -- an exile ordered by Mustafa Kemal that took the lives of her family and neighbors and left her bereft, even of her name.

Specific Example of Turkish Violation of Minority Rights

Dr. Van Coufoudakis, rector emeritus, University of Nicosia, Cyprus and dean emeritus of the School of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University, authored “International Law and Minority Protection: The Fate of the Greeks of Imbros and Tenedos.” The article details a long neglected human rights issue in Turkey involving the fate of the population, Greek in origin, of two Turkish islands Imbros (Gokceada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada). Turkey deliberately and systematically ethnically cleansed both islands despite the provisions of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, an international treaty that Turkey has signed and ratified. The fate of this ethnic and religious minority raises important questions about Turkey’s compliance with international law and with the European Convention on Human Rights at a time when Turkey is engaged in accession talks with the EU.

Our Position

• Adopt legislation recognizing the Pontian Genocide as part of the genocides against the Armenians, Assyrians and the other Greeks of Asia Minor genocides which took the lives of more than two million of Turkey’s Christian population.
  
  
• President Obama must affirm his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to end America’s silence on Turkey’s denial of this crime of genocide and include the recognition of the Pontian and Assyrian Genocides as defined by the U.N. Genocide Convention.
  
  
• To acknowledge the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, Pontian and Anatolian Greeks, to issue a formal apology and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.

Turkey

Turkey is the main cause of the problems in its region, the northeastern Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea, the northern Middle East and in the southern Caucasus. Turkey is hardly a model for the Muslim world or for anyone.

Critical Review of U.S. Policy Toward Turkey Needed

The Issue

Turkey is an unreliable ally. This assertion was proven during the George W. Bush administration when Turkey refused to allow the United States to use bases in Turkey to open a northern front against the Saddam Hussein dictatorship. Turkey’s reasoning was that it wanted $6 billion more -- in addition to $26 billion irresponsibly offered by the Bush administration through then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz -- for a total of $32 billion. A former Bush administration official called Turkey’s negotiating tactics “extortion in the name of alliance.”

The United States’s successful prosecution of the war against Iraq without access from Turkey proved Turkey’s limited value as a strategic military resource in the region. Today, the United States has access to alternative military facilities in the region including countries in the Eastern Balkans, Middle East, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and in Iraq itself.

Turkey’s unreliability is not new. During the Cold War, Turkey actively aided the Soviet military to the serious detriment of the United States.

U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), chairman of Republican House Policy Committee, said as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats:

Examples of Turkey’s Disloyalty to the United States

Examples of Turkey’s disloyalty and unreliability over the past decades as a NATO ally for U.S. strategic purposes include:

1. During the 1973 Middle East War, predating the Turkish invasion of Cyprus by one year, Turkey refused the United States military overflight rights to resupply Israel and granted the U.S.S.R. overland military convoy rights to resupply Syria and Iraq, and military overflight permission to resupply Egypt. A member of the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara wrote:

2. In the 1977-78 conflict in Ethiopia, Turkey granted the Soviets military over-flight rights to support the pro-Soviet minority of Ethiopian communist insurgents, led by Colonel Mengistu, who eventually prevailed and established a Marxist dictatorship directly dependent upon the Soviet Union. Giant Soviet Antonov-22 transport aircraft ferried Cuban troops, Soviet weapons and other assorted needs to Ethiopia. During the peak months of the conflict (December 1977 --January 1978), the Soviet Union greatly increased the number of overflights through Turkish airspace with the direct acquiescence of Turkey’s regime. The Soviets ferried in 2,000 Cuban troops by the end of the first week in December. By late December, 17,000 Cuban troops were in Ethiopia. The Cuban troops were immediately moved to the fighting front against Somali and anti-Communist Ethiopian forces. They effectively turned the tide in favor of the communists.
   
   
3. Over NATO objections, Turkey allowed three Soviet aircraft carriers, the Kiev on July 18, 1976, the Minsk on February 25, 1979, andthe Novorosiisk on May 16, 1983, passage rights through the Bosphorous and Dardanelles Straits into the Mediterranean in violation of the Montreux Convention of 1936. The Soviet ships posed a formidable threat to the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
   
   
4. In 1979 Turkey refused to allow the United States to send 69 U.S. marines and six helicopters to American military facilities at Incirlik in Turkey for possible use in evacuating Americans from Iran and protecting the U.S. embassy in Tehran.                                                
   
   
5. Again in 1979 Turkey refused the U.S. request to allow U-2 intelligence flights (for Salt II verification) over Turkish airspace “unless Moscow agreed.” This position was voiced over a period of months by Turkish officials, the opposition party and the military chief of staff, General Kenan Evren.
   
   
6. In January of 1981, President Carter tried to obtain a commitment from Turkey for the use of Turkish territory for operations in cases of conflict in the Middle East. The January 20, 1981, New York Times reported that Turkey was not in favor of “the United States using Turkish bases for conflicts not affecting Turkey.” In the spring 1983 issue of Foreign Policy magazine, Harry Shaw pointed out that Turkey is unlikely to become involved in, or allow U.S. forces to use Turkish territory in a Middle East war that does not threaten her territory directly.
   
   
7. As an example of the above, in 1980, Turkey refused to permit the United States to use the NATO base at Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey as a transit point for the purpose of conducting a rescue mission into Tehran, Iran, to free the American hostages held in that city. The distance from Diyarbakir to Tehran is 450 miles as opposed to the actual route taken, which was over 900 miles.
   
   
8. In May 1989, Turkey rejected an American request to inspect an advanced MIG-29 Soviet fighter plane, flown by a Soviet defector to Turkey.
   
   
9. The Turkish government refused repeated American requests for the installation of antennas in Turkey concerning 11 transmitters whose broadcasts would have been directed primarily at the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellites. As reported in the July 22, 1983, issue of Newsweek, the initiative by the State Department sought to improve reception of programs broadcast by Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and the Voice of America.
   
   
10. Turkey further damaged NATO by vetoing NATO’s effort to put military bases on various Greek islands in the Aegean for defensive purposes against the Soviet navy.

Our Position

The United States, in its own best interests, should critically review and reassess its relations with Turkey. In addition to economic sanctions and an arms embargo, the United States should consider removing trade and other benefits if Turkey refuses to:

• Remove its 43,000 illegal occupation forces illegally in Cyprus
  
  
• End its illegal 35 years of occupation of nearly 40 percent of Cyprus,
  
  
• Remove the Turkish barbed wire fence across Cyprus.
  
  
• Restore the property illegally taken in the northern occupied area of Cyprus to its rightful owners.
  
  
• Return the 180,000 illegal Turkish colonists/settlers in Cyprus to Turkey and halt the illegal bringing of more colonists/settlers from Turkey to occupied Cyprus to illegally change the demographics of the island and of the Turkish Cypriot community.
  
  
• Open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels and aircraft as required by documents Turkey signed in order to commence EU accession talks.
  
  
• Stop its violations against Greece’s territorial integrity in the Aegean and in Greek airspace.
  
  
• Implement and strictly enforce the guarantees of religious freedom and human and minority rights set forth in the Treaty of Lausanne, the UN Charter, other international agreements, and U.S. laws.
  
  
• Grant legal personality to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and safeguard it.
  
  
• Immediately reopen the Halki School of Theology and lift restrictions on the elections of the Patriarch.
  
  
• Promptly return nearly 7,000 illegally confiscated properties from the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Turkish government since 1936; and
  
  
• Respect human and minority rights in Turkey.
  
  
• To acknowledge the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, Pontian and Anatolian Greeks, to issue a formal apology and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.

Exhibit 1

Turkey’s Collaboration with the Soviet Union
During the Cold War

As long ago as 1974, Edward Luttwak, the noted strategic analyst, discussed Turkey’s cooperation with the Soviet military during the Cold War. He wrote at that time the following:

No longer presenting a direct threat to the integrity of Turkish national territory, and no longer demanding formal revision of the Straits navigation regime, the Soviet Union has nevertheless successfully exercised armed suasion over Turkey, even while maintaining a fairly benevolent stance, which includes significant aid flows. Faced with a sharp relative increase in Russian strategic and naval power, and eager to normalize relations with their formidable neighbor, the Turks have chosen to conciliate the Russians, and have been able to do so at little or no direct cost to themselves. It is only in respect to strategic transit that Turkey is of primary importance to the Soviet Union, and this is the area where the concessions have been made. Examples of such deflection, where the Russians are conciliated at the expense of western rather than specifically Turkish interests, include the overland traffic agreement (unimpeded Russian transit to Iraq and Syria by road), the generous Turkish interpretation of the Montreux Convention, which regulates ship movements in the Straits, and above all, the overflight permissions accorded to Russian civilian and military aircraft across Turkish air space. The alliance relationship in NATO and with the United States no doubt retains a measure of validity in Turkish eyes, but it is apparent that its supportive effect is not enough to counteract Russian suasion, especially since the coercion is latent and packaged in a benevolent, diplomatic stance.

Roster of Organizational Endorsements

American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA)
AHEPA was established in 1922 by visionary Greek-Americans to protect all from prejudice emanating from the KKK.  In its history, AHEPA has joined with the NAACP and B’nai B’rith International to fight discrimination. Today, its mission is to promote the ideals of ancient Greece to include philanthropy, education, civic responsibility, and family and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism. It has grown to become the largest membership-based association for Hellenic-Americans and Philhellenes in the world. For more information, please visit www.ahepa.org.

Hellenic American National Council (HANC)
The Hellenic American National Council (HANC) was established in 1992 to serve as an umbrella organization for the numerous Greek American federations and associations across the United States. HANC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and charitable organization devoted to honoring, protecting and preserving the Hellenic and American ideals. HANC is also dedicated to supporting the interests of the United States, Greece, and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkan regions.

Cyprus Federation of America
The Cyprus Federation of America was founded on April 12, 1951, in New York City in a spirit of brotherhood and benevolence by a group of early immigrants. The Cyprus Federation currently consists of twenty-five chapter members located throughout the United States. Its primary goal is to coordinate and promote the cultural, educational and social activities of the Cypriot American community and to foster the continued friendship between the peoples of Cyprus and the United States. Since 1974, following the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus, the Federation has assumed a key role in keeping U.S. elected officials and the American public well informed of Cyprus’ continuing tragedy.

Pan-Cretan Association of America
As of its formation on October 14, 1929, The PanCretan Association of America established itself as a leader among ethnic organizations worldwide in its belief that education, cultural preservation and philanthropy were its top priorities. Since those early days, all chapters have followed these guidelines and have distinguished themselves as members of one of the most inspiring and legendary organizations.

Pan-Macedonian Association
The Pan-Macedonian Association was founded in 1947 with the goal of uniting all the Macedonian societies of the United States. It is a nationwide membership organization for the Greek Americans whose origins are from Macedonia, Greece. The organization promotes the culture, language, history and traditions of Macedonia and promotes charitable projects and works to benefit the region and its people. It strives to educate its members and the general public on various issues pertaining to Macedonia.

Chios Societies of America
The Chios Societies of America & Canada was organized in December 1939, with a Supreme Lodge opening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in January of the following year. Currently, The Chios Societies of America & Canada consists of chapters in New York, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Warren, Steubenville-Weirton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New Orleans. There are also chap­ters in Montreal, and in Toronto, Canada, and prospective chap­ters for New Jersey and for the young adults "Next Generation Chapter." Throughout their 69 years, the Chian conventions have reflected social, political and cultural attitudes reflective of their times. In 2006, the 52nd National Chian Convention was hosted by the newest chapter of the CSA&C, the Chian Society of California. For the first time in their history, the Chians of North America had finally accomplished the goal of becoming organized and united from coast to coast. 

Pan-Pontian Federation of U.S.A. and Canada
The PAN-PONTIAN FEDERATION OF U.S.A.- CANADA, with it’s 14 Chapters, across the U.S. and CANADA, was founded, on December 14, 1980, by American and Canadian Greeks, who trace their origin to Pontos, an area located on the southeastern part of the Black sea. Hellenic presence in the area began with the establishment of coastal cities including Sinope (785 b.c.) and Trapezounta (756 b.c.). Our primary goal is to preserve, protect and promote our unique culture and to strive for recognition of Turkey’s Genocide of the Pontian Greeks by Turkey and the international community.

United Hellenic Federation of Northern California
The United Hellenic American Societies of Northern California represent 35 Greek American Organizations with total membership of about 20,000 members.

Armenian National Committee of America
ANCA is a national grassroots advocacy organization representing the views and values of the Armenian American community. The ANCA fosters greater civic awareness among Americans of Armenian heritage, encourages increased Armenian American participation in all aspects of the democratic process, and facilitates increased engagement by Armenian American with their elected officials, the government, media, academia, and the broader public policy community. The ANCA has national headquarters in Washington, DC, regional offices in Los Angeles and New York, more than local 50 chapters around the country, and dozens of affiliates around the world.

American Hellenic Institute (AHI)
AHI, founded in 1974 following Turkey’s illegal invasion and occupation of 37.3 percent of Cyprus, is an organization with members throughout the nation. AHI’s missions are to promote American values and the rule of law in U.S. foreign policy and to strengthen relations between U.S. and Greece and Cyprus as being in the best interests of the U.S. AHI supports legislation to promote American interests in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and is registered with the Congress under Lobbying Act. The AHI Foundation is the first think-tank devoted exclusively to the study of the issues confronting the Greek American community. These organizations sponsor conferences, seminars and publish books and other materials on the issues. For information visit www.ahiworld.org.

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AHI News Flash:

01-21-09 AHI Executive Director Interview with the Greek News

Letters to the Editor:

08-07-09 AHI Letter to the Editor of the Washington Post

08-06-08 The Washington Times Prints AHI Letter Regarding Cyprus