Turkey

“Unless we accept the Russian view of the nature of man, we cannot work with the USSR to a common end for human society.”

During an address to the US Congress on March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman called for military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece to counter communist threats. This began the Truman Doctrine, and Christian realists responded a month later.

Vladimir Putin has launched attacks across Ukraine, recognized parts of eastern Ukraine as independent, sent Russian “peacekeepers” deep into Ukraine either to digest yet another chunk of his neighbor or to fully absorb it, and unleashed a storm in Europe. Although they cannot be seen from Kyiv, there are faint traces of silver linings in these storm clouds.

The crime of cultural heritage destruction has been committed against the same victims by the same perpetrators again and again—in Turkey, Cyprus, the South Caucuses, and the Middle East.

The manger scene these days really is the face of Christmas for most people and, perhaps not surprisingly, it is one of the aspects of the season that keeps causing trouble.

While religious minorities go back and forth between being scapegoats and props, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has demonstrated that municipalities can play a key role in making their religious minority residents feel welcome as equal citizens and valued stakeholders.

That Jesus Christ’s two advents are set against the backdrop of a region rarely associated with good news is ironic, but this year that irony is less obvious. Good things are happening in the Near East if you know where to look.

To my frustration, the 1899 Hague Conventions, the 1907 Hague Regulations, and the 1954 Convention have all been flouted in Turkish-occupied Famagusta and in other parts of Cyprus. Just as frustratingly, Turkey has tried to block the road to justice via The Hague.

The Autonomous Administration for North and East Syria (AANES) is seeking international recognition as a legitimate government, but currently it is campaigning the US to lift sanctions on its territory.