NO. 8

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) welcomes the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Turkey’s preferential trade status as a country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

 “AHI has long maintained in its testimony and advocacy to Congress its opposition to any assistance programs to Turkey, including those that provide most favored nation trade benefits, because of Turkey’s numerous, ongoing violations of the rule of law,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “Although we do welcome the Administration’s decision as a positive step, we note the decision does not affect all Turkish exporters and was not made because of its violations of the rule of law. Further, we hope President Trump sees it through after the sixty-day notice as he has the ability to withdraw the notice.”

 In congressional testimony, AHI has cited Turkey’s illegal occupation of Cyprus with 35,000 troops and 180,000 illegal Turkish settlers; its suppression of religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, seizure of its property, and closure of Halki Seminary; and its violations of Greece’s territorial integrity and airspace as examples of Turkey’s countless violations of the rule in law.

According to a statement issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Turkey no longer complies with the statutory eligibility criteria.

“Turkey’s termination from GSP follows a finding that it is sufficiently economically developed and should no longer benefit from preferential market access to the United States market,” the USTR stated in its announcement.

The Administration cited Turkey’s increase in Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, declining poverty rates, and export diversification, by trading partner and by sector, as evidence of its higher level of economic development.

Turkey’s designation under the GSP program allows duty-free entry of an estimated 2,000 products such as: auto components, industrial valves, and textile materials that affects an estimated $1.7 billion in Turkish exports, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

The USTR statement added that by statue the change to Turkey’s trade status may not take effect until “at least 60 days” after Congress and the Turkish government is notified.  The decision is enacted by a Presidential Proclamation.

NO. 7

WASHINGTON, DC —American Hellenic Institute (AHI) President Nick Larigakis participated at a two-day conference of diaspora leaders from Greece, Cyprus, and Israel hosted in concurrence with The Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governors meeting in Jerusalem, Feb. 26 and 27, 2019. 

“I appreciated the opportunity to participate and contribute to fruitful discussions about how our diasporas can work together to promote and strengthen the trilateral relationship and address the issues that concern our diasporas,” Larigakis said.

According to President Larigakis, the roundtable discussions led to a conclusion that a 15-person delegation of young professionals comprised of the three countries’ diasporas will visit Greece, Cyprus, and Israel in August 2019.  The delegation will spend three days in each country.

President Larigakis was invited to participate as part of Greece’s delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terens Quick.  The delegation included: AHEPA Supreme Governor Phanos Pitiris and Nicholas T. Pagonis, President/CEO, Greek Community of Montreal. 

Representing The Jewish Agency for Israel were: Chairman of the Executive Israel Isaac Herzog, Chairman of the Board Michael Siegal, and Yigal Palmor, director of Public Affairs and Communications. 

“I thank Chairman of the Executive Herzog and Chairman of the Board Siegal, of The Jewish Agency for Israel, for hosting an excellent series of meetings; and Deputy Minister Quick for leading our delegation,” Larigakis said.

Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou led the delegation representing Cyprus that also included: Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) Executive Director Endy Zemenides, National Federation of Cypriots in the UK President Christos Karaolis, and Christos Tuton, president of the World Organization for Young Overseas Cypriots (NEPOMAK).

B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and Alan Schneider, director of B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem, also participated.

In addition, President Larigakis attended a dinner in honor of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Feb. 25. 

RSVP FORM

 NO. 6

WASHINGTON, DC —Ekathimerini, the online version of the Athens, Greece daily newspaper Kathimerini, published a commentary authored by American Hellenic Institute (AHI) Board Member Counsel Nickolas G. Karambelas, Esq. titled, “US law recognizes Aegean treaty regime in Dodecanese,” on February 21, 2019. 

In the piece, Karambelas, a partner at Sfikas & Karambelas LLP, who also serves as AHI volunteer legal counsel and on the Board of Directors, writes about the rule of law from a United States perspective and how it applies to the Aegean treaty regime dating back to the United States’ involvement in the Dodecanese with the Treaty of Lausanne in the 1920s.  The United States was not a signatory to the Treaty of Lausanne, which confirmed the occupation of the  Dodecanese islands and islets to Italy.  However, under the Treaty of Peace with Italy of 1947, to which the United States is a signatory following World War II, the Dodecanese Islands and adjacent islets were ceded by Italy to Greece.  As a result, the Treaty of Peace with Italy is U.S. federal law and binding on the U.S. government. Therefore, Karambelas raised the question of whether, and how, the Treaty of Peace with Italy, as U.S. law, is relevant to the ongoing fulminations of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Aegean treaty regime.

“When President Erdogan denigrates the Aegean treaty regime and there is no forceful reply from U.S.officials, US law as well as international law is compromised,” Karambelas writes.

Karambelas also explores if there is an effective means to redress the failure of the U.S. government to respond to challenges to U.S. law set forth in the Treaty of Peace with Italy. He identifies the U.S. Congress as the most practical and effective forum.

“The US sets a dangerous precedent and undermines its credibility in its own disputes when it ignores or derogates from the legal principles of the Aegean treaty regime,” he concludes.

• Click here to read the commentary