Last week, AHEPA Supreme President George G. Horiates led a contingent of Ahepans who participated at a protest held at the Embassy of Turkey in Washington, DC.
The peaceful protest took an ugly turn when counter-protestors exhibited Turkish propaganda and physically blocked access to the public sidewalk in front of the Embassy of Turkey which is located on Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Supreme President Horiates, in cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service and Metropolitan DC police personnel, resolved what was becoming a tense situation.
The Supreme President Horiates said: “We sincerely thank the organizers of today’s protest, the Hellenic Cultural Center, and we appreciate the law enforcement officers, George Marafatsos from the HCC, and Capitol District 3 Lodge officers for their involvement and participation. We also thank the District of Columbia for permitting the protest to take place, allowing us to exercise our First Amendment rights to raise awareness of the egregious provocative acts of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the violation of the universal value of the UNESCO-protected Hagia Sophia, which status has now been changed to a mosque by the Erdogan regime.”
In addition, AHEPA sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump to convey the Order’s alarm and grave concern about Turkey’s aggressive acts in the Aegean and urged President Trump to encourage Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to send a strong message to Turkey to stop its hostile behaviour in the region.
Iin the letter, Supreme President Horiates asked the Administration to:
- Condemn Turkey’s actions
- To impose sanctions on Turkey for its violation of U.S. law
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Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
For more information, please visit ahepa.org.
