The infamous statement by the former US Secretary of State has been denied by Kissinger himself, but has passed into the “sphere” of urban legend
The “shadow” of the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who passed away in the early hours of the morning at the age of 100, spread over the last decades in our country for things he did and said, but also for things he didn’t say, namely the (alleged) reference to “domestication of the Greeks”.
The infamous statement has been denied by Kissinger himself, but has passed into the “sphere” of urban legend, and will live on after him.
The history
In 1997, Nemesis magazine published the statement, which Kissinger allegedly made in 1994 at an awards ceremony in a Washington hotel. Her source was a Turkish Daily News article. The alleged statement was:
“The Greek people are anarchic and difficult to tame. That is why we must strike him deep in his cultural roots. Then maybe he’ll come to his senses. In other words, I mean to harm its language, its religion, its spiritual and historical reserves, in order to neutralize its potential to develop, to distinguish itself, to prevail, so that it does not harass us in the Balkans and the East, the so important to US interests”.
This passage was republished, in addition to the Nemesis, in the Economic Post and the Auriani, it is assumed to be genuine. The journalist Yannis Marinos of the Economic Post contacted Kissinger, who sent a rebuttal letter to the magazine as well as the Turkish Daily News. Kissinger’s rebuttal was published in Political Affairs.
“Dear Mr. Marino. Thank you for your letter. As for the quote you posted, there was no award ceremony for me, nor was there a speech by me and the quoted quote is completely untrue. The whole story is pure invention and I expect you to make a correction. As you are the first to inform me where the published quote came from, I just today had the opportunity to make a correction to “Turkish Daily News” and did so. Sincerely yours. Henry Kissinger”.
Since then, the statement has more or less taken on the status of an urban legend, and continues to be republished and circulated, especially on the internet, in forums and blogs, in order to support various positions or conspiracy theories. In fact, reposts sometimes state that the alleged statement it was made in 1974and not in 1994.
Source: Skai
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