Free Republic

Tension is running high between Greece and Turkey. The cause? Turkish Chief of the General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar paid a visit to Imia, a pair of two small, uninhabited Greek islets in the Aegean Sea, on January 29. He was accompanied by the commanders of the Turkish land, naval and air forces.Imia – which Turkey calls “Kardak” – was a subject of yet another crisis in 1996 that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war. Although armed conflict was ultimately averted, Turkey still claims that the islands are Turkish, even though the islands in the Aegean are...

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI met with representatives from the Orthodox Church in Cyprus, a meeting that may pave the way for an encounter between the Pope and Russian Patriarch Alexy II. In the Vatican on Saturday, Benedict XVI met with Chrysostomos II, archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus, and other representatives of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus. After this meeting with the Holy Father, Archbishop Chrysostomos II will discuss with Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia the possibility of future collaboration between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, and perhaps a meeting with...

VATICAN CITY: A Cypriot Orthodox archbishop seeking to arrange a groundbreaking meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Russian Orthodox patriarch said Monday that Cyprus would be an ideal location for the talks. Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus has just completed a six-day visit to Rome for talks with Benedict and other Vatican officials and now plans to meet with Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow on July 13. He said the Orthodox Church is "open" to a meeting with Benedict and that while it is not clear where it would be held, "Cyprus would be a solution." Such an...