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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,...

16 λεπτά

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...

11 λεπτά

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...

11 λεπτά

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,...

10 λεπτά

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...

14 λεπτά

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...

19 λεπτά

Climate change is set to asymmetrically impact the Mediterranean over the next decades. The stakes couldn’t be higher for Greece and Cyprus, both of which were identified as the most vulnerable to climate change among the EU member states. Katerina Sokou, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Europe Center of the Atlantic Council and the Washington DC correspondent for SKAI TV and Kathimerini,...

14 λεπτά

Today HALC’s Executive Director Endy Zemenides joins our host Thanos Davelis to break down whether the US is warming up to Turkey amid the war in Ukraine, look at the mixed signals the State Department has been sending to countries in the region, and introduce us to George Tsunis, the next US ambassador to Greece.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Έντι Ζεμενίδης προς State...

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Today expert Constantinos Filis, the Director of the Institute of Global Affairs and a professor of international relations at the American College of Greece, joins our host Thanos Davelis to break down how the war in Ukraine is impacting Greece’s relations with Russia, including a look at the Kremlin’s propaganda campaign in Greece, the recent expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats from the...

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Greece recently hosted the Iniochos 2022 military exercise, bringing together a robust list of countries, including the US, France, and Israel, and giving them the opportunity to hone their military capabilities and enhance their defense cooperation to meet key regional security challenges. Expert Bradley Bowman joins me today to break down the significance of this exercise for Greece, the US,...

16 λεπτά

Today the Hellenic American Leadership Council and a coalition of partners launched their campaign to prevent the sale of American F-16s to Turkey, and the hashtag #NoJetsForTurkey went viral, hovering in the top ten trends in the United States throughout the entire day. As our focus is on Turkey’s request for F-16s, we are re-upping an episode from this past October with Aaron Stein, the...

17 λεπτά