Following the unanimous decision of the UNESCO Executive Board to propose that February 9 each year be declared World Greek Language Day, the President of the Special Permanent Committee on Greeks Abroad, Philippos Fortomas, convened on Tuesday a joint meeting with the Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs on the topic “World Day of the Greek Language: Significance and Implications”.
The Members of the Committees were informed by Yiannis Loverdos, Greece’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad, Georgios Koumoutsakos, Permanent Representative of Greece to UNESCO, and Georgios Babiniotis, Professor of Linguistics and former Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
During the meeting, reference was made to the diplomatic struggle that took place for the above result, but also to the way in which Mr Babiniotis scientifically supported the importance of the Greek language and its contribution to human civilisation.
After the conclusion of the meeting, Mr Fortomas stated: “We had the pleasure and honour at this very important joint meeting of our Committees to hear from Mr Koumoutsakos, Mr Babiniotis, and Mr Loverdos, regarding how the diplomatic struggle and its scientific documentation were conducted so that our language, although spoken by a few million people worldwide, would be recognised of global importance, thanks to its history and contribution to world culture.”
“The Greek language is a bridge of culture and identity. Its international recognition obliges us to continue the effort to disseminate and support it with even greater consistency and determination,” Mr Fortomas added.
