The Pallaconian Association of Canberra and Districts hosted a dinner dance at The Hellenic Club of Canberra on July 15 this year.
The event was the first of its kind in a number of years.
Attendees at the event.
Everyone who attended the event enjoyed a night of catching up with familiar faces, over food, Greek dancing and a few drinks.
Familiar faces included friends from the Sydney, Pan-Laconian Association of NSW, who made the effort to travel to Canberra. Due to the successful night, both Associations are keen to meet up more regularly at similar events.
Attendees at the event.
Friends from the Pan-Laconia Association of NSW also took the opportunity to catch up with members of the Canberra Association the following day, Mr Dino and Leo Nikias.
A number of contributors assisted with the event by some form of donation, raffle ticket prizes and co-ordinating the event.
Australia will next play Nigeria on July 27, followed by Canada on July 31.
The injury will rule Kerr out of the Matildas’ second group B game against Nigeria, with Football Australia saying she would be assessed before their final group match with Canada.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to repeat calls for a ‘two-state solution’ to the Cyprus problem, amid the 49th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on Thursday.
According to AP News, Erdogan spoke at an event in Cyprus’ occupied north on Thursday and said whilst he does not “oppose fresh talks” on the Cyprus problem, he would reject any deal which doesn’t offer Turkish Cypriots their own state.
Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtı’nın 49’uncu yıl dönümünde Kıbrıs Türk'ü kardeşlerimle bir arada bulunmaktan büyük bir bahtiyarlık duydum.
Bugün bizi bir kez daha hasretle, muhabbetle bağrına basan Kıbrıs Türk halkına, adada yaşayan vatandaşlarıma teşekkür ediyorum. pic.twitter.com/LbsuJMsCuy
This comes after a recent statement by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who claimed Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974 ‘brought peace’ to the island.
Erdogan’s two-state position has been condemned by the European Union and other countries, with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides stating on Thursday that the “current status quo is not and will never be accepted for the future of Cyprus.”
“We are struggling with all the political and diplomatic means at our disposal to reverse this unacceptable state of affairs,” Christodoulides added at an event to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
Firefighters in Greece are battling reignited wildfires in West Attica, the island of Rhodes and Lefkohoma in Laconia, triggering a series of new evacuations.
Greek authorities had declared the wildfires contained overnight but firefighters lost control on Thursday due to strong wings.
According to Fire Brigade press spokesperson Lt-Colonel Yiannis Artopoios, in the greater West Attica area there are 11 firefighting airplanes and 11 helicopters, including the four aircraft provided by Italy and France to Greece through the EU’s RescEU mechanism.
Residents of the areas of Agia Sotira, Paleokoundoura, Panorama, Paleohori and Agios Ioannis Korakas in West Attica have been told to evacuate.
Firefighters battle rekindled flames in Greece on Thursday. Photo: AMNA.gr.
In the Laconian region, fire rekindling created new fronts southeast of the settlement of Lefkohoma, which are being fought by strong land forces as well as four aircraft and one helicopter.
On the island of Rhodes, there are multiple rekindlings of fire on the mountain range in the centre of the island, and three aircraft with two helicopters are operating there.
Lt-Colonel Artopoios confirmed that overall in Greece there were 62 forest fires in the last 24 hours, most of which were put out early on.
This comes as temperatures across Greece are expected to rise to new highs as of Thursday through Sunday, and the fire threat in the country remains high.
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began at dawn on July 20, 1974. It was a day that changed Cyprus forever and will be ingrained in the mind of every Cypriot for hundreds of years.
To mark the 49th anniversary of the invasion today, The Greek Herald asked young Australians with Cypriot heritage what their thoughts are on the Cyprus problem.
Andreas Alexandrou, 16, ACT:
Andreas Alexandrou.
I was born and raised in Australia from Greek Cypriot-born parents. Although I have spent most of my life here, I have been christened in Cyprus and have been there six times. Both my parents were in second grade primary when the Turks invaded. My dad and his family moved to Melbourne, Victoria after four years of combatting the economic effects of the war. However, mum moved to Canberra as an adult.
I grew up in a house where my parents would talk about the invasion and how they woke up to the distress of overhead war planes, gunfire and bombs. My parents were fortunate enough not to lose their homes or properties, although 37 per cent of their country was taken. The invasion not only affected the Greek population of Cyprus, but all ethnicities living in the small country.
Mum has been involved in Canberra’s Cypriot Community for almost 30 years and is the President of the Pan-Australian Justice for Cyprus (PASEKA). I have held the Cypriot flag many times and dressed in my traditional costume for National Day events and the July anniversary. I attended many memorial services and talks about the Cyprus problem.
Places like the sea of Morphou, where my mum would always go as a kid, are now restricted. The feeling of needing permission and to show my passport just to visit my own country is a sad thing to comprehend. For as long as Cyprus is under occupation, I will continue to show my support and fight for a free Cyprus from foreign troops. Justice For Cyprus.
Andreas Panayi, 20, South Australia:
Andreas Panayi.
Cypriot culture is at the core of my very being. This way of life has been passed down through many generations down my heritage line.
As a young boy, my pappou and yiayia, over a game of tavli, told me a story of how on July 20 in 1974, Turkey violated all rules of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and invaded Cyprus. This invasion day of infamy resulted in the death of many, changed history forever and divided the island of Cyprus, resulting in many Cypriots becoming refugees in their own homeland. During this invasion, my grandparents, along with many others, immigrated to Australia.
I listened with fascination and then a few years later, as a 9-year-old boy, went to Cyprus with my grandparents and father and was stunned to see a Turkish flag displayed on a mountain with flashing night lights as a mocking signal to Cypriots, reminding them daily of the invasion.
As I visited family, I realised villages had been given Turkish names, churches, cemeteries and archaeological sites had been desecrated and destroyed by the Turkish. What was so sacredly held by many Cypriots, was no more. My heart was saddened, my head dropped and I realised the severity of the situation my grandparents had described.
Andreas Panayi has always been proud of his Cypriot heritage.
Peace and stability were no more in their homeplace. Families had lost their homes and precious lives had been lost defending legality and democracy with heroic symbolism. Yet Turkey continued to occupy Cyprus, what an injustice was this?
Every year, I lay a wreath at the Cypriot Community Centre in SA to commemorate the invasion of Cyprus. Not a day goes by where I don’t wonder why we cannot reverse this situation. We need to continue to push to hold Turkey accountable, we need to return proper settlement to the rightful Cypriot owners. We need to stand united and never forget the people who lost their life, the culture, freedom and their heritage to this injustice.
Whilst acknowledging this injustice, I also bow my head as a sign of respect to the contribution of our Cypriot Community to Australian society, their perseverance to keep our culture and language alive and their proud determination to harmonise their culture within a multicultural Australia. Justice for Cyprus.
Ellise Papanikolas, 26, New South Wales:
Elise Papanikolas. Pictured on the left with her mum Dr Miranda Adamou.
I’ve been asked and I’m honoured to write my thoughts about Cyprus and the Cyprus issue. But how can you put on a piece of paper the emotions and the journey when you are a child growing in a family of such a history?
My grandmother’s uncle was killed at 33-years-old in the 1964 Turkish atrocities, leaving behind an indelible scar on my mother’s family. Both my uncles, my mothers’ brothers, were soldiers in the 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey. One was missing for a few days but thankfully both survived the war. Many from my mother’s village, Kythrea, now under Turkish occupation, did not survive.
All these years I have seen many attempts by the Cyprus government through negotiations and talks with the Turkish side but with no result. I grew up listening to the stories, watching their tears flow, but also seeing the hope for a solution. The hope that their island can be reunited and that one day we will return to what is rightfully ours.
Ellise with her family in Cyprus.
In 2004 we visited Kythrea. I remember her face when she looked at her house in disbelief, the anguish, the sorrow. She touched her ‘lemon trees’ and said ‘they can feel that I’m here.’
The northern occupied part of Cyprus remains unchanged, 33 per cent of the island is still under Turkish occupation. Precious religious and archaeological treasures have been looted and destroyed. More than 550 churches have been desecrated. They continue to violate all United Nations General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions and in addition, they continue to overturn new ones.
Turkey proceeded with the creation of a new state of affairs and further illegal actions in Varosha – a fenced off area in Famagusta. These actions were condemned by the Security Council and Turkey was called to immediately withdraw and transfer Varosha to the administration of the UN. That was on July 23, 2021. It still hasn’t been done.
It is our duty as the young generation of Greek Cypriots to continue the journey that our parents and grandparents have started, to fight for freedom and justice for our beloved little island.
Dimitra Sienna Karatzas, 10, Victoria
Dimitra Karatzas with her letter.
Last night, I saw my grandmother pick up a book and look at it. Every year around this time, she does this. For the first time I decided to look at it myself. The title read ‘Days of Rage – Cyprus.’ I felt curious and opened it to see what book it was.
The book had lots of pictures. I sat and looked through them. I felt my heart break. I saw small children crying in fear in their mother’s arms. Elderly crying in pain. I asked my grandparents to talk to me about the photos.
Dimitra’s letter in Greek.
I was told that on July 15, 1974, the Greeks of Cyprus went to war with each other. This led to Turkey invading Cyprus on July 20 with thousands of troops. Turkish soldiers committed many atrocities. They killed innocent people, even children.
Others were captured, of whom many have not yet been found. One of them is my grandmother’s brother, Andreas. The Turks took him and since then he has disappeared without a trace.
Cyprus has since been divided into two. Even to this day, after 49 years, the refugees of Cyprus cannot return to their homes. This makes me very sad. It is a great injustice.
I was not born in Cyprus. I didn’t live through the war. But I have learned the story about the black summer of July 1974 in Cyprus. I have learned about injustice. I have learned what the people of Cyprus went through. I’ve learned to mean it when I say: I DO NOT FORGET!!!
When Cypriot man, Loukas Christou, came to Australia with his wife and three kids in 1989, 15 years had already passed after Turkey’s invasion to Cyprus.
Today, 49 years after the events of July 20, 1974, Mr Christou reflects from Melbourne, Victoria on his memories of these turbulent times, taking us back to the day he was called to join the military forces, remembering incidents on the battlefield and sharing with The Greek Herald a family story of separation, migration and reunion.
Chaos during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus:
Mr Christou was called to fight in the Cypriot army during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. His wife was six months pregnant at the time.
“When I left, my wife told me, ‘be careful’ and I said, ‘where I go there is no such thing as being careful. If a bullet finds me, it will have my name written on it’,” he says and continues his narration.
“We went on the bus and they drove us to the city center. In the city there was a Turkish enclave very big and strong. We couldn’t pass through it. They sent us to take it over. It was a very dangerous, residential place.
“They were defending and you didn’t know where danger will find you from. They were armed and we didn’t know that. The Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) trained them and gave them armoury. There was only one entrance from a bridge to pass. They had put snipers and it was hard to do so. We couldn’t spot them.”
Loukas Christou during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
Mr Christou then describes what they faced after getting into the enclaves.
“We were walking in the streets of residential areas, we were trying to capture the Turks but they had a military camp, which we spotted after. We went inside and they had arms and were hitting us. There was unbelievable heat,” he explains.
“They had armoury in a tunnel, we found it and took it out. We started gathering children, women, and those who surrendered, but there was resistance and you could hear shootings. It was chaos. You didn’t know where a bullet would find you from. It started getting dark, there were no lights.”
‘Don’t be afraid’:
Mr Christou also remembers an incident with a Turkish old lady he encountered at a house. He was really thirsty and asked her for water in Greek.
“They understood Greek because many Turks were working at the port. She gave me a bottle and I asked for a glass too, because we were afraid of what was inside. She brought it and I told her to pour the water in. She told me in Greek, ‘don’t be afraid, there is nothing inside there’,” he details.
Mr Christou explains how Turks were also putting grenades behind doors. Many people died that way. Enclaves were also a tough place to be.
“We were walking and hiding near the parked cars,” he says.
He remembers trying to warn a soldier not to open a door he was walking towards because he had seen three Turks inside. When the soldier was almost there, Mr Christou threw a grenade.
“There was always fear because in residential areas you don’t know where the danger will come from,” he explains.
“One night we gathered the people we had captured to take them to a stadium. There was a big one in the city. They were asking for water, they were thirsty.”
He remembers calling someone with refreshments to give them some water to quench their thirst.
“They were humans too. It was mostly the TMT that urged them to resist and fight,” he says.
During his time fighting, Mr Christou’s family didn’t know his whereabouts.
“My wife didn’t know where I was. She gave birth and I was in the army,” he says.
His father went to search for him in the city and asked at the military camp if anyone knew his son’s name, but they all said no.
“He said to my mother that he didn’t find me and my mother was shocked. It’s hard, when you don’t have signs of life for days,” Mr Christou says.
Loukas Christou came to Australia with his wife and three kids in 1989.Loukas Christou reflects on 49 years after the events of July 20, 1974 from home in Melbourne.
Migrating to Australia and the return to Cyprus:
Before the Turkish invasion, Mr Christou’s two brothers left for Australia in 1957 after his parents got divorced. He was three at the time, and stayed back in Cyprus.
“I knew that they were here [in Australia] but it was not that easy as today to communicate,” he remembers. “I knew that I had two brothers, but I didn’t know them.”
Ten years after the invasion, in 1984, his oldest brother decided to visit Cyprus and Mr Christou met him in person. The other brother followed two years later.
“It was God’s gift,” he says about the chance to see them.
It was his siblings who urged him to come to Australia and in 1989, Mr Christou’s migration story began.
“It was really hard when we came because we came in May and it was hard to find a job. My brothers tried to help me anyway they could. This was a decision, both mine and my wife’s, for our children to have a better future,” he says.
Mr Christou started working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. He knew how much he and his wife would miss home.
“It was a sacrifice for the children and it came true, with all of them. I didn’t regret it,” he says.
Asked how he feels today when he returns to his home in Cyprus he says: “Since 1989 I have returned six times to Cyprus. When I was coming out of the airport, I felt very happy to be back in my country but sad too because it was divided. Until this day I have not gone to the taken land.”
“When we came to Australia our lives changed,” Mr Christou adds.
“I think we are in more pain here, because we miss it. The events we do here they don’t happen back there. We love our home twice because we miss it. We are trying to keep our culture and the faith to our home, because we live in a distant country.”
Chryssa Kourobylia has been selected by FIFA to be an assistant referee for the Women’s World Cup match between Canada and Nigeria in Melbourne on Friday, July 21.
The match will be held at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium from 12.30pm.
Chrysoula Kourobylia has been considered one of the top assistant referees in Greece for more than a decade.
The age limit for referees in Greece is 45 and Chrysoula has reached it. Being in the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) top tier of assistants, she was entitled to continue playing domestically but decided this year would be her final season after 14 years in the Super League.
The Allis family are threatening to take the owners of Oakleigh frozen yogurt shop Yo-Kli, George and Effie Katsakis, to the Federal Court amid a trademark dispute.
According to A Current Affair (ACA), the Allis family own Yo-Chi in Melbourne – a self-serve frozen yogurt business – and they requested the Katsakis couple “immediately cease and refrain from using the Yo-Kli mark, the Yo-Kli get-up, any get-up that is similar to the Yo-Chi get-up and the Yo-Kli layout.”
Lawyers for Yo-Chi claimed Yo-Kli infringes “the Yo-Chi trademarks” and “is at least likely to mislead and deceive consumers.”
The two different business names. Photo: A Current Affair.
In the latest development, the Allis family told ACA that Yo-Kli could keep its name as long as the font is changed to appear sufficiently different.
But the Katsakis family are staying firm and said the business name refers to the “Greek precinct” in Oakleigh.
“It’s all about the suburb, people know Oakleigh, they know it’s a Greek precinct and it’s something that fitted really well together; has a good ring to it,” George said.
A court has found the NSW government liable for financial losses suffered by some businesses due to construction delays along the Sydney CBD light rail route.
A group of about 300 retailers and residents sued Transport for NSW in a class action, alleging they suffered “unreasonable interference” from light rail works between Sydney’s CBD, Randwick and Kingsford.
Lawyers for Transport for NSW had denied claims the work had caused a “nuisance” to businesses.
Former City of Sydney Councillor Angela Vithoulkas led the campaign for compensation after she was forced to shut down her George Street cafe Vivo after 18 years in business.
Angela Vithoulkas. Photo: Jessica Hromas.
On Wednesday, Ms Vithoulkas told the Sydney Morning Heraldthat the ruling was “bittersweet.”
“We lost our business. Whatever answer came down today was never going to change that,” she added.
“I can only hope that this is a lesson that the state government will listen to, and never let this happen to any other small business owner ever again.”
Damages for the two lead plaintiffs will be decided at a hearing in October. Transport for NSW acknowledged the outcome of the case and was considering the judgment.
Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides has condemned a recent statement by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who claimed Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974 ‘brought peace’ to the island.
On the 49th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Mr Tatar said in an interview with Anadolu News Agency that “if this operation had not taken place, Cyprus would have been worse than Crete.”
Mr Tatar said Turkey stopped the Cyprus union with Greece in 1974, which bought peace.
“On July 20, 1974, the Cyprus Peace Operation disrupted all these schemes, and left them dumbfounded,” Ersin said in the interview.
“They would have wiped out all the Turks on the island.”
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. Photo: Anadolu Agency
In response, Cyprus’ President said he will not engage in a “game of public confrontation with Mr Tatar.”
“The Cyprus problem will not be resolved through public negotiations,” Mr Christodoulides told the Cyprus Mail.
“I am here with determination, with seriousness, with realism and I will do everything possible to create the conditions for breaking the deadlock, for the resumption of talks and for the resolution of the Cyprus problem.”
These comments come as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan prepared to visit occupied northern Cyprus on Thursday to inaugurate the new terminal and runway of the Tymbou airport.
