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Greece’s leaders commemorated the 103rd anniversary of the genocide of the Greeks of the Pontus region today, in which at least 353,000 Pontian Greeks perished. This was a major phase of a larger genocide of Christians in Turkey that also targeted Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks from Asia Minor and eastern Thrace. Professor Alexander Kitroeff, a Professor of History at Haverford College whose...

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We’re taking you to Washington, DC today, where Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis just wrapped up a two day trip that included a meeting at the White House with President Biden and a historic address to a joint session of Congress. Lena Argiri, the DC Correspondent for ERT - the Greek Public Broadcasting Company, joins Thanos Davelis with the latest analysis. You can read the articles we discuss...

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Turkey surprised its NATO allies last week by saying it would not view the applications of Sweden and Finland positively, and on Monday Turkish President Erdogan doubled down on comments last week indicating that the two Nordic countries´ path to NATO would be anything but smooth. Erdogan also cited Greece to express his disagreement over Finland and Sweden joining the transatlantic alliance....

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Today we are heading to a remote island in the Aegean, Tilos. The island has already been producing most of its own electricity through solar and wind, and this week authorities announced that more than 80% of Tilos’ trash is now being recycled, with a recycling plant replacing the island’s landfill. Derek Gatopoulos, a correspondent for the Associated Press who has been covering news in Greece...

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NPR recently highlighted how Orthodox Christian churches in the US are drawing in far-right American converts that show strong strains of nativism and white nationalism, along with a strong admiration for authoritarianism and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz and Dr. Aram Sariksian join Thanos Davelis to look at this phenomenon and explore what the broader implications...

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western policymakers have watched Erdogan’s balancing act between Turkey’s NATO allies and Russia closely, seeing the war as an opportunity to pull Ankara back into the Western fold. As a result, several NATO countries have helped boost Erdogan’s image in recent weeks with diplomatic visits and new offers of previously off-limits arms deals. Merve Tahiroglu,...

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After years of deteriorating relations, it appears there is a new narrative on US-Turkey relations that sees the war in Ukraine as a chance to reset relations and reverse Turkey’s tilt towards Russia. What’s missing from any discussion of this “reset” narrative, however, is Turkey’s escalation of aggressive behavior against Greece and Cyprus. HALC’s Executive Director Endy Zemenides joins...

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Later this month Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be in Washington, DC, and he is arriving with a full agenda that includes the global impact of the war in Ukraine, regional energy developments, and Turkey’s provocations in the Aegean. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the 3+1 scheme, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held a virtual meeting on Monday, while Prime Minister...

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This week the EU proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Russia for its war in Ukraine, including an embargo on Russian oil. However, some member states are worried about the impact on their own economies, and the EU has had to tweak its sanctions plan in a bid to win them over. As of Friday night there was still no green light in sight. Yannis Palaiologos, Kathimerini’s Brussels...

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We’re taking you to the Aegean today, where Turkey’s provocations have reached unprecedented levels. Just on one day last week, Greece registered 168 airspace violations and 42 illegal overflights over Greek islands by Turkish jets. Expert Constantinos Filis, the Director of the Institute of Global Affairs and an associate professor of international relations at the American College of Greece,...

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 Earlier this week Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy gave an all encompassing interview which aired on ERT - the Greek public broadcaster - and was later published in Kathimerini, in which he discussed Greece’s support for Ukraine, Turkey’s attempts to mediate a peace deal, Ankara’s “double standards” vis-a-vis the West and Russia, and much more more. Yiannis Souliotis, who traveled to Kyiv to...

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This week Greece lifted COVID-19 restrictions for foreign and domestic flights as it prepares for a tourist season that it hopes will see this crucial sector bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, with 14 direct flights to Athens, Greece is expecting to see a record number of Americans visit the country. Greece's Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias joins Thanos Davelis today to talk...

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The official launch of the new floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) at Alexandroupoli is taking place on Tuesday this week. This marks an important milestone not only for Greece’s role as a regional energy hub, but also for the Balkans. The launch will take place with the prime ministers of Greece, Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and the president of Serbia in attendance, along with the...

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It was recently announced that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit the White House next month and deliver what’s been described as a historic address to a joint session of Congress. This week we also saw two marathon hearings in the Senate and the House, where Secretary Blinken was grilled by members of Congress on the administration’s broader foreign policy strategy that covered...

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In a decisive turn in the war in Ukraine, Russia announced this week that it was cutting gas to Poland and Bulgaria. This move has put the spotlight on the efforts underway in the Balkans to show Gazprom that they have real alternatives to Russian gas. Nektaria Stamouli, Politico’s Athens-based correspondent covering the region, joins me today to look at how the Balkans are breaking their...

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This week a Turkish court condemned Turkish philanthropist and civic leader Osman Kavala to life in prison, a verdict that’s been described as a “travesty of justice.” The State Department also chimed in, expressing its deep concern. Its statement only mentioned Osman Kavala, however, failing to call out Turkey for upending the lives of the other defendants, including Professor Henri Barkey, a...

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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its Annual Report this week, and once again recommended that the State Department place Turkey on its Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute and an expert on religious minorities and cultural...

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Last week evidence emerged of a disturbing act of vandalism at Hagia Sophia, with photos showing the historic Imperial Gate badly damaged. This is raising concerns over the repercussions of Turkish President Erdogan’s decision in 2020 to turn Hagia Sophia, then a museum, into a mosque. Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou, a leading expert on issues of religion and human rights, joins our host Thanos...

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Dealing with the energy crisis and the rising costs Greek households are facing as a result is at the top of the Greek government’s agenda, and this week we saw Prime Minister Mitsotakis announce a commitment to take action if the EU does not step up to the plate. Georgia Nakou, a political and financial analyst for MacroPolis, joins our host Thanos Davelis to look at how the government is...

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Today US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt joins our host Thanos Davelis for a look at the latest high level congressional visits to Greece, Greece’s important strategic position in the region and its role in the battle to wean Europe off of Russian gas in light of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and the strong confidence on both sides of the Atlantic in the US-Greece partnership. You can read the...

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