MEDIA IMPACT

In 2022, AHI issued a combined 106 press releases, statements, and announcements that were widely distributed to mainstream, Greek American, and foreign press, the Administration, Congress, and AHI members and friends. AHI also submitted letters to the editors to correct the record of publications and wrote commentaries to present AHI’s policy positions to key audiences. In addition, AHI principals appeared for interviews on TV and radio outlets.

Interviews & Media Coverage

Washington, D.C. Sigurd Neubauer, owner of Man & Culture Magazine, and a highly respected international affairs authority, interviewed Larigakis.

Following the New York City Greek Independence Day Parade, held June 5, 2022, New Greek TV interviewed President Larigakis after he marched in the parade

ERT-TV also interviewed President Nick Larigakis to gain his perspective in the lead up to the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. The interview, conducted by Journalist Dimitris Apokis, aired on ERT News and ERT on November 5, 2022.

AHI’s Opposition to Turkish Military Upgrade Request Lands Media Coverage

Three Greek media outlets interviewed AHI President Nick Larigakis for his analysis and reaction to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ May 2022 visit to Washington, D.C. The outlets that interviewed Larigakis included: ERT3 TV Thessaloniki via Skype, ERT-1 Radio First Program, which aired it live; and Radio Thessaloniki.

Also, ERT-TV published an article reporting on AHI’s letter to President Joe Biden touting Greece’s leadership in the lead-up to his White House meeting with Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

Man & Culture Magazine, an online lifestyle magazine celebrating the modern man, including leaders in business, politics, and culture, also interviewed Larigakis as part of the magazine’s profile of Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ visit to

Skai TV, which is part of one of the largest media groups in Greece, interviewed President Larigakis for two different segments that aired on October 13, 2022. Both segments focused on the actions of the U.S. Congress to restrict the sale of F-16s to Turkey, including the recent removal of amendments from the annual defense authorization bill. Larigakis participated in a live panel discussion on the Skai TV morning show Simera with Dimitris Economou and Akis Pavlopoulos that aired the morning of October 13. Later in the day, Diplomatic Editor of Skai TV News Maria Tsilinikou held a one-on-interview with Larigakis at the Grande Bretagne Hotel that aired on the channel’s primetime news broadcast.

Larigakis participated in a discussion on STAR-TV, one of the main television channels in Greece, July 15, 2022. Larigakis discussed the advocacy by the U.S. Congress, and AHI, to restrict the sale of F-16s to Turkey that took place over the summer.

In addition, Middle East Eye, an online news outlet that specializes in covering the Middle East and North Africa, cited the AHI’s opposition to any potential arms sales to Turkey in its reporting on the response from Washington’s policy circles to the Biden administration’s request for an arms deal.

The May 19, 2022, article, “Opponents of US arms sales to Turkey mobilise in Washington,” reported on AHI’s May 13, 2022, letter to President Joe Biden, written by President Nick Larigakis, that called any arms sales to Turkey “the height of strategic malpractice.”

The article goes on to quote from AHI’s letter, “Turkey has masqueraded its closeness with Russia as an asset, pitching itself as a ‘mediator’ between Russia and Ukraine. However, Turkey is more of a ‘fence-sitter,’ rather than a mediator.”

Greek Print, Broadcast Media Cover AHI’s Letter to POTUS on Turkey’s Threats

Several print and broadcast media outlets reported on AHI’s September 29, 2022, letter to President Joe Biden that cited the need for a strong U.S. response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish government officials for threats they directed at the United States and Greece.

Following initial coverage by Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), news of AHI’s letter received coverage in Kathimerini, Liberal, CNN Greece, Hellas Journal, Law and Order, efsyn.gr, and The President.

Additionally, Star and ANT1 interviewed AHI President Nick Larigakis, who authored the letter.

AHI’s letter detailed several recent examples of Turkish inflammatory statements and provocative actions, including Turkey’s September 27 issuance of demarches to the U.S. and Greek governments to protest the deployment of U.S.-made armored military vehicles to Greece.

Letters to the Editor & Rebuttals

August 26: AHI responded to clarify several inaccuracies made in an opinion piece titled, “The U.S. should mediate the maritime dispute between Turkey and GreeceCyprus,” authored by Nicholas Saidel and published August 8, 2022, by The Hill, a top U.S. political website vital to policy, politics, and election campaigns.

September: AHI responded to a September 15, 2022, opinion piece authored by Professor Joseph Massad, titled, “Turkey-Greece tensions: A clash of nationalisms,” which was published in Middle East Eye, to set the record straight about Massad’s bizarre series of accusations against Greece. AHI rebutted several claims made by Massad that President Larigakis described as being rooted in “obvious anti-Western and anti-American sentiment, masquerading as political analysis.”

Op-Eds and Commentary

June 24: The National Herald published a Guest Viewpoint submitted by President Nick Larigakis titled, “TNH Is Correct: The Time Has Come for Community Assemblies.: The viewpoint was in response to The National Herald’s May 25, 2022, editorial titled, “Ideas for Building on the Success of Mitsotakis’ Visit.” Larigakis commended the editorial for proposing the idea of establishing Greek American community assemblies to facilitate people-to-people ties with Greece, and he recommended that a roundtable discussion be held with the Greek prime minister and Greek American stakeholders every time the prime minister visits the United States.