The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, between Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, the Serbo-Croatian-Slovene State of the one part, and Turkey, of the other part, with the provision in Article 1 , that from its entry into force the state of peace would be definitively restored between the contracting parties.
However, the historical reality denied this prediction, justifying the analysis of the American Ambassador in Smyrna, G. Horton, about the behavior of the Turks. Turkey methodically and systematically tries to undermine the authority of the Treaty with words and deeds, as evidenced by the violation of the provision of Article 14 for the special administrative status of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, the wanderings of the Greek residents of Constantinople during the periods of Greek-Turkish crises (1954, 1964, 1974), the maintenance of the 4th army abroad Asia Minor with a clear aggressive orientation due to the large amphibious fleet, the invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus in the operations of ATTILA 1 and 2 in the summer of 1974, with the tolerance and complicity of all International Organizations, the trial of NATO, the gray zones in the Aegean, the Imia episode, the casus belli and lots of other overt or covert acts.
The systematic undermining of the religious freedoms of the Greeks (dubita et impera), even though these are expressly provided for in the Treaty of Lausanne (Section C: Protection of Minorities (Articles 37-45, especially 40-42)) is methodically insidious and cunning effectively.
The conversion of Hagia Sophia, a symbolic Christian monument - the Parthenon of Byzantium - with the tolerance of the USA, the EU and NATO, is an extreme and shameful example of political adventurism by the neighbor, which bets on Greece's inability to respond equivalently or indifference of International Organizations to denounce, as they should, based on Article 44, the violation of fundamental religious rights. The problem is exacerbated by Turkey's recent ban on Greeks performing their religious duties at Panagia Soumela. Greece is of course unable to respond dynamically. However, it has the obligation to denounce Turkey to the UN and the EU, so that they demand its compliance with the International Treaties.
Of course, there are appeasers in our country, pacifists, willing defenders of Turkish policy, but never supporters of patriotic rights. The incompetence of the keepers holds well, as the work of the fires that we see invariably every year has proven. During this time, no surveillance measures, no suppression measures with the co-production of firefighting aircraft in the ODA (and not only), no dispersal of water tanks, no opening of fire zones, no strengthening of the forest service, etc. have been launched to such an extent as to increase the belief that the situation will go from bad to worse. But until when?
Written by Vasilios L. Konstantinopoulos, University Professor – President F. S. PARNASSOS
