We find ourselves once again amid commemorations of honor and remembrance marking the 205th anniversary of the Revolution of 1821, which led to the liberation of Greece from the Turks. Yes—from the Turks. I have pointed this out many times in the past, and in recent days it has once again become abundantly clear: when various people speak of Greek independence, they hesitate to name the occupier—that is, the Turks—and instead speak vaguely and sentimentally about liberation. They do not dare to say from whom Greece was liberated. Why, one wonders, do they avoid referring to Turkey? Are they ashamed, or are they afraid? For heaven’s sake, it should be neither. Let me clarify at once that I am not referring solely to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, because I fully understand his difficult position—or rather, the personal struggle he endures due to his origin, upbringing, and associations with fellow countrymen in Turkey.
In simpler terms, it is one thing to have been born, raised, and to have lived in the joy of Greece’s freedom—and subsequently in America, for those of us who came to this blessed land—and quite another to have lived in Turkey, with all the constraints faced by minorities. For this reason, I often feel sorrow and concern for the few remaining Greeks in Turkey, whom fate has kept there. How much longer, however, remains a painful question.
And lest I be misunderstood by the ranks of internationalists—who abound, especially in Greece—and, of course, by pro-Turkish voices, I hasten to say that I do believe in friendly and good neighborly relations between Greece and Turkey and in the peaceful coexistence of the two peoples, from which only benefits can arise. However, friendship and good neighborliness cannot be a one-way street; they must be mutual.
I must also emphasize that woe to us if we lack a strong memory and national consciousness regarding the many sufferings inflicted by the Turks upon Greece and Hellenism in general. Who dares to forget that they have enslaved—and continue to occupy—half of Cyprus for more than half a century? Who can fail to recall the destruction of the Church of Asia Minor—Myra, Tralles, Miletus, Ephesus, Prusa, Iconium, Sardis, and Smyrna—long-suffering Smyrna, whose harbor ran red with blood? And who dares to forget Pontus and its genocide? Who?
Even today, Greece’s greatest threat is Turkey—plainly stated, regardless of the hopeful declarations of Dendias. Today, once again, it roars like a beast, issuing threats and seeking to spill blood anew. It has already done so in Syria and has massacred the Kurds, with the tolerance, willful blindness, and staggering hypocrisy of the so-called Western “civilized” world.
Why should it not attempt some reckless move against the islands of the Aegean, which it threatens? Who would stop it—NATO, or the European Union?
No, I am not fearmongering. I simply think—with memory ever present in my mind and soul—that my own homeland, Lesvos, lies but “a stone’s throw” from Turkey, and that—God forbid—some accident could occur.