From Kissinger to Bidenopoulos
Source: in-cyprus.com
Joe Biden concluded his long political journey with his speech at the Democratic convention in Chicago. The outgoing President of the United States has had a political career spanning fifty years, and the Greek diaspora has known him closely, as from his early steps he always stood by Greece and Cyprus.
This political stance was maintained for years. Greek Americans had invested in a politician who knew the national issues very well and intervened on our behalf. On 27 January 1989, then-Senator Biden wrote to the President of the American Hellenic Institute (AHI): “We cannot overlook the fact that the rights of Greek Cypriots have been violated, and we must ensure that their claims to their ancestral land and property, which were seized during the 1974 invasion, are not compromised. Lastly, we must send a message to Turkey that until it removes every last soldier from Cyprus, it will never be recognised as a full member of the international community.”
This was Biden as a Senator, back in 1989. As Vice President, and even more so as President of the United States, Biden has taken many of these positions out of the equation, many years later.
He followed the well-trodden path concerning the Cyprus issue, citing the easy and repetitive arguments, while “discovering” Turkey’s strategic importance “for Western interests.”
He followed the easy path of Kissinger’s doctrine, the man who was proven to have contributed to the destruction of Cyprus. Henry Kissinger, as is well known, was one of the key players in what was planned and implemented in the summer of 1974.
He was the one who knew about both the plans to overthrow Makarios and Turkey’s plans to invade. He was the one who, among other things, during a discussion held at the time in the Oval Office of the White House, told President Ford that “there is no reason for the US not to let the Turks hold one-third of Cyprus.”
Furthermore, he had made it clear that in a potential war between Greece and Turkey, “Turkey is more important to us.” On the scales, the occupying power always carried more weight, regardless of its actions or how it behaved.
No matter what was said in the US about Kissinger (even by Biden), the State Department never renounced the doctrine of the former Secretary of State. His fingerprints were, and still are, everywhere in the policies that were and are being implemented.
Joe Biden, who, when addressing a Greek audience, acknowledges that without Greek Americans, he would not have been elected for the first time as a Senator at the age of 29, often repeats that due to his relationships with Greeks, he earned a nickname he is proud of: “I am Joe Bidenopoulos.”
Joe Bidenopoulos, with his proud nickname, made many promises and took positions that were even more progressive than those expressed by Greeks while out of power. In office, however, everything is handled differently.
His relationship with Erdoğan may have been, and still is, difficult because the Turkish President has consistently played the role of disruptor and constantly opposes Western and other interests. Yet, this has not cost Erdoğan.
Biden hasn’t met Erdoğan many times over the past five years, but that doesn’t mean much. What matters more is whether the occupying Turkey pays a price for its behaviour. And it doesn’t.
If it were any other country, maintaining such close ties with Hamas, for example, while being in the allied camp, what consequences would it face?
Biden is departing, closing his political chapter. He visited Cyprus, chose to maintain good relations with the governments of Greece and Cyprus for years, and kept a significant portion of the diaspora close to him. In all cases, in the end, the balance is always weighed. And everything is measured up.
The original article: belongs to in-cyprus.com .
