Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those that attended yesterday’s historic and storied AHEPA Delphi # 25’s Awards Gala at The Loeb Central Park Boathouse. It was truly a very impressive high end Who’s Who’s event and probably the most significant one in the region, maybe beyond, in the post start of Covid period within the Hellenic American broader community.
I was humbled by many things including Archbishop Elpidophoros flying in from Tampa and coming directly to the Gala to be there, and the words that he spoke. Also the words of Member of Parliament of Arcadia Konstantine Vlassis and former Deputy Minister of Greeks Abroad, Dr. Konstantin Koutras the General Consul of the Hellenic Republic, Michalis Firillas the Consul General of Cyprus, surprised by Eric Adams New York City Mayoral candidate and likely winner coming, and Michele Mitrovich for her poetry. Special thanks to my Brothers past and present Delphi #25 Presidents Ted Klingos , Argyris Argitakos (a very special thank you) , and Micheal Papaphotes, and to all my Chapter Brothers for the honor of receiving this year’s Award. The photos are by professional photographer Jillian Nelson.
Dr. Konstantine Koutras the Consul General of the Hellenic Republic Remarks. -
Today, we are honoring a distinguished Hellene, Louis Katsos.
A man who for over four decades has been promoting and safeguarding the interests of Hellenism and the Hellenic ideals.
My remarks though are NOT about Louis Katsos.
There are others in this room more suitable than me to do that.
I will say a few words, though, about what this man has been fighting-for all these years.
Distinguished members of AHEPA, dear friend Supreme President,
Louis Katsos has been fighting for Hellenism as a whole.
For Agia Sophia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, for Cyprus and Greece, for the Hellenic History & Culture, for the Greek Diaspora worldwide.
He has been consistently advocating for closer relations between the United States and Greece while raising awareness about Turkey’s illegal and dangerous conduct.
This struggle has not been in vain.
Today, Greece has reassumed its historic role; that of the pillar of economic and political stability in our region.
Both Greece and Cyprus have deepened their geopolitical imprint, as evidenced by our strategic relations with key players in the region, such as Israel, UAE, Egypt.
This is of course visible in the US-Greece relations which are at the best level ever.
The continuing multifaceted Strategic Dialogue is a testament to the fact that the USA recognizes Greece’s importance for the security in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond.
To this end, the USA endorsed our historic agreement with France that has significantly upgraded our deterrence capabilities.
Today, Greece is getting ready to sign an amendment to its defense deal with the US. NikosDendias and his counterpart SecBlinken will sign the renewal of the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), first signed in 1990, with a duration of 5 years!
And the truth is that our extremely fragile neighborhood, obliges us to be able to defend ourselves.
Especially when there is a state that refuses to abandon its illegal activities against both Greece, Cyprus and not only:
The Turkish aggressiveness in the Aegean Sea, the casus belli threat, the occupation of Cyprus and the repeated attempts of Ankara to instrumentalize the migrant flows are just some of the challenges we are facing right now.
This hostile attitude is accompanied by an extremely toxic rhetoric:
A neo-ottoman revisionism along with the blatant distortion of international law, including the Law of the Sea.
You might have read the latest Turkish provocations:
Ankara now claims that if we station troops on our islands to defend them from its hostility we lose our sovereignty to them!
Not to mention the repeated insults of the state-controlled Turkish media that question the right of our government’s officials to visit our border areas.
They even considered the celebration of the Battle of Lepanto as “provocative”!
We have all seen the maps that depict Ankara’s unlawful expansionist doctrine of the Blue Homeland. Even yesterday, Turkey openly disputed the sovereign rights of several Greek islands, including Kasos, Creta and Rodos to mention a few.
Besides blatantly violating international law, these claims also undermine any chance of dialogue.
This aggressiveness does not only target Greece and Cyprus.
Turkey threatens NATO’s unity.
Let’s think about its activities in the region:
i) It’s role in Syria, Libya and Iraq that contradicts the USA’s efforts to promote stability there,
ii) Its close relations with jihadists that could lead to the resurgence of terrorism
iii) Its controversial ties with Russia!
It is clear that Turkey undermines the national security of both Greece &Cyprus as well as that of the USA.
Therefore we need to stay alert, as Lou Katsos has been over the years.
To stay alert, as AHEPA has been over the years!
To stay alert, as the Omogeneia as a whole together with our Church, have been over the years!
We need to make it clear to everyone, that we cannot tolerate this rogue behavior in the SE Mediterranean, in the Balkans and the Middle East.
We must safeguard the interests of Hellenism worldwide.
If we hesitate in doing so, the aggressor will just consider our hesitation as a free pass in perpetuating its unlawful behavior.
Keep up the excellent work, dear Lou!
Keep up, dear brothers and sisters!!!
