Subj: Letter to Odyssey Magazine
Date: 5/23/2002 10:21:32 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: TKarakosta
To: Smyrna1922
The following letter is in response to the so called "unholy alliance"
referred to by Mr. Takis Michas. In point of fact, the traditional Greek-
Serbian friendship is not at all unholy, and is actually a natural one
fostered by close religious, historical, and political ties. Greece and
Serbia have much in common.
First, they are united in brotherhood by the Orthodox Church and
the holy sacraments. Greeks and Serbs have a special reverence
for their holy Churches and Monastaries, something that western
inspired secularists refuse to understand. The Serbs have always
valued the historical Churches, Monastaries, and relics contained
in Kosovo. The Greeks have always remembered the Great Church
of Aghia Sophia and other shrines left behind in Constantinople.
Secondly, Greeks and Serbs both have a long history of suffering.
The Ottoman Empire which many western writers presently view
as a model for the Islamic world eradicated the independence of
the Byzantine Empire and Christian Kingdoms such as Serbia.
During the dark centuries of Ottoman rule, Greeks and Serbs
kept their Orthodox faith and national identities alive.
Thirdly, during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, Greece and Serbia
fought side by side against the Ottomans, and then against
Bulgaria. There is a long historical relationship between the
Greeks and the Serbs which critics such as Mr. Michas refuse
to recognize. Furthermore, Greece and Serbia both fought on
the American side during both World Wars and both have
subsequently been betrayed by the United States.
Both Greeks and Serbs were victims of Genocide in the twentieth
century. Under the reign of the Young Turks and their successor,
Mustapha Kemal Pasha- over 1,000,000 Greeks were exterminated.
The western powers armed Kemal while depriving Greeks of aid
and then did nothing to prevent the mass slaughter of Greeks
in Smyrna and the Pontus region. During the Second World
War, over 800,000 Serbs were exterminated by Nazi collaborating
Croats, Muslims, and Albanians.
Another common factor that unites Greeks and Serbs is their
mutual defiance of the Axis powers during the Second World
War. The Greeks heroically crushed the Italians when the latter
invaded Greece. The Serbs rose up in Yugoslavia to prevent an
alliance between Belgrade and the Third Reich.
Both nations protected the Jews from the Nazis and both
fiercely resisted the occupation of their homelands by the
Germans. The Serbs rescued over 500 American pilots that
had been shot down over Yugoslavia. Over twentyfive percent
of Serbian Orthodox clerics perished in the Serbian Genocide
while the Serbian Patriarch spent the war in a German
concentration camp. Archbishop Damaskinos and the Bishops
of Greece risked their lives to aid the Jewish population.
In the postwar era, the sacrifice of Greeks and Serbs to the
cause of freedom has been forgotten. Over 100,000 Greeks
have been ethnically cleansed from Constantinople while the
US and NATO failed to impose sanctions or to condemn
Turkey's behaviour even a single time. Serbs were likewise
driven from Kosovo, the cradle of Serbian civilization.
In the early 1990's, Serbs in the Krajina were threatened by
a revival of the Croatian Ustashe regime which had committed
Genocide against the Serbs during the Second World War.
Similarly, anti-Serb movements among the Muslims of Bosnia
and Kosovo raised the fears of the Serbs. The Clinton administration
became a defacto sponsor and supporter of international terrorism
by helping the Croatian-Islamic side against the Serbs.
It is now well documented that the Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo
Liberation Army were receiving support from Osama
Bin Laden's Al Quada Network, and from Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Turkey, and Iran with the approval of the United States.
While demonizing the Serbs during the 1990's, the Clinton
administration and CNN ignored the fact that Osama Bin
Laden established a base in Albania.
In 1974, the US helped trigger the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
and the ethnic cleansing of over 200,000 Greek Cypriots. In
1995, the US trained and armed Croatia's pro-Nazi army which
ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Serbs from lands they had been
residing in for centuries. Such are the fates of two nations
who have historically stood by the side of the United States.
The alliance between Greece and Serbia is not an "unholy"
alliance. It is an alliance and a friendship between two
brotherly nations who have given invaluable support to the
west. In return, the holy places of both nations have been
taken away and entire populations have been eradicated
for the economic and geostrategic interests of the great
powers.
Rather than discussing the so called "Unholy alliance",
perhaps Mr. Michas should look into the activities of
Islamic extremism and terrorism in the Balkans, as well
as in Ankara. Islamic extremists have been the major
beneficiaries of Serbia's defeat. As to the issue of war criminals,
the US can be taken seriously when it stops arming the likes
of Bulent Ecevit and Rauf Denktash, and when US officials
stop honoring the memory of Mustapha Kemal.
Theodore G. Karakostas
