Monday, October 19, 2026

Contact: AHEPA Headquarters Phone: 202-232-6300 Email: press@ahepa.org

Supreme President Kaitson Applauds U.S. Senator Rick Scott for weekend's Turkey Statement

AHEPA Supreme President E. Chris Kaitson commends U.S. Senator Rick Scott for his statement this weekend regarding Turkey, in which he argues Ankara engages in "thuggish behavior" towards Greece and Cyprus. The Florida Senator went on to say, “You’re not acting like a NATO ally when you take F-16s and fly over somebody else’s country. You’re not much of an ally when you occupy a portion of another country’s land. And that’s what they’re doing.” These claims come ahead of decades of tension between Greece and Turkey -primarily the 50+ year Turkish occupation of Cyprus and additional territorial claims over the Aegean sea. Additionally, estimates from from the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA) have reported Turkey in violation of Greek airspace more than 13,000 times in the past five years alone. "This behavior is absolutely unacceptable from a country which claims to be a reliable NATO ally," said Kaitson, "AHEPA has stood beside Greece and Cyprus in the face of Turkish aggression for decades and we applaud Senator Scott for his recognition of this deplorable and adversarial behavior."

### 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.    AHEPA's mission is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism.    For more information, please visit www.ahepa.org. 

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