Press Releases

Letter to the Editor in The National Herald Commends AHI Op-Ed on U.S. Concern for Cyprus Solution

WASHINGTON, DC —The Op-Ed “Why the U.S. Should Care about a Cyprus Solution?” by American Hellenic Institute (AHI) Executive Director Nick Larigakis that was published in several Greek American media outlets, including The National Herald (Oct. 16, 2010), received commendation in a Letter to the Editor written by Constantinos Scaros titled “Kudos to Larigakis for U.S.-Cyprus Plan” in the Oct. 30 – Nov. 5, 2010 edition of that publication.

“His [Larigakis’] article was particularly credible because his reasons for condemning Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus had nothing to do with taking the side of Greece for its own sake,” wrote Scaros.  “In other words, the ‘we have to take the Greek side on issues because we’re Greek’ mentality holds little validity outside the Greek community.”

Scaros’ letter to the editor can be viewed in full below.

Please click here to view Larigakis’ Op-Ed.

The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.

Kudos to Larigakis for U.S-Cyprus Plan

To the Editor:

I would like to commend Nick Larigakis for writing an excellent article about why the United States should be concerned about Turkey's presence in Cyprus ("Why Should the U.S. Care About a Cyprus Solution?" op-ed, October 16). His article was particularly credible, because his reasons for condemning Turkey's occupation of Cyprus had nothing to do with taking the side of Greece for its own sake. In other words, the "we have to take the Greek side on issues because we're Greek" mentality holds little validity outside the Greek community.  Instead of voicing that limited ethnocentric approach, Larigakis emphasizes that in the interest of international law, the United Nations charter, NATO stability, and American foreign policy ideals, the United States should, short of an armed invasion, maintain public pressure on Turkey to withdraw its military occupation from Cyprus.  That sort of reasonable thinking is the best way to bring objective legitimacy to the issue, and in turn, attract greater international attention.

People round the world of Greek and Greek-Cyprian nationality or descent will continue to express the most outrage over this, because the issue hits closest to home for them.  Nonetheless, their voices alone will not be enough. Even when their reasoning is objective, they might be perceived as playing favorites.

The next step is to present the Turkish officials' point of view as well, and as objectively as possible. Whatever their publicly stated reason for the invasion and continued occupation, I'm almost sure it is not: "yeah, we're violating the law, so what? We're proud of that!" The best way to test the truth, after all, is to present it accurately in the marketplace of ideas.

At that point, the goal will be to get enough prominent non-Greeks on board, so that rather than the international community concluding that Greeks are merely trying to protect their own, it can understand why the position that Mr. Larigakis and so many others support is in the best interests of the United States and the world as a whole.

Constantinos E. Scaros
Newmanstown, PA

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For additional information, please contact Nick Larigakis at (202) 785-8430 or at pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at https://www.ahiworld.org.