Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, has died aged 91.
The Central Clinical Hospital in Russia said in a statement that Gorbachev died on Tuesday after a long illness.
In 1985, aged 54, Gorbachev became the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, setting out to revitalise the party by introducing peace talks, as well as political and economic freedoms.
As the last Soviet President, he managed to strike up arms reduction agreements with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War II.
Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan talk during their meeting in Iceland in 1986. Photo: AP Photo/Scott Stewart
When pro-democracy protests swept across the Soviet bloc nations in 1989, he refrained from using force, unlike previous Kremlin leaders who had sent tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Nevertheless, the protests fuelled aspirations for autonomy in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union and he failed to prevent the subsequent collapse.
Twenty-five years after the collapse, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in the nuclear country.
In 1990, Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and spent his later years collecting accolades and awards from all corners of the world.
Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the first-ever meeting between a Kremlin chief and a Pontiff, in Vatican, Friday, Dec. 1, 1989. Photo: AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti
However, at home, he was widely despised with Russians blaming him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union and quickly became a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.
His run for president in 1996 was a national joke, and he polled less than 1% of the vote.
As for his opinions on Russia’s current President, Vladimir Putin, whilst Gorbachev protested Putin’s actions to limit media freedom, he did concede that the Russian President had done much to restore stability and prestige to Russia after the tumultuous decade following the Soviet collapse.
This year on March 2, Putin congratulated Gorbachev on his 91st birthday.
“You have lived a long, fulfilling life, and you’ve rightfully earned great prestige and recognition,” Putin was quoted as saying by TASS.
“It is gratifying that today your multifaceted work contributes to the implementation of much-needed social, educational, charitable projects, as well as to the development of international humanitarian cooperation.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Greece of “hostile action”, alleging Greek defence used a Russian-made missile system to harass its F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace.
Erdogan’s allegations, made yesterday in a video address celebrating the centenary of the Greek-Turkish War (1919-1922), comes after Turkish defence ministry sources said on Sunday that a Greek missile system based on the island of Crete locked on to the Turkish jets on August 23.
F-16 aircraft of Turkey. Photo: Ministry of National Defence of Turkey
According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, the F-16s were at an altitude of 3,000 metres to the west of Greece’s Rhodes island when the Russian-made S-300’s target-tracking radar locked on.
Athens rejects the Turkish claims, with a Greek defence ministry source telling Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT: “Greece’s S-300 missile system has never put a lock on Turkish F-16 jets.”
An S-300 anti-aircraft missile launches during a Greek army military exercise near Chania in 2013. Photo: Costas Metaxakis/AFP via Getty Images
In his video address, Erdogan said: “Just like a century ago, we know the real intentions of those trying to waste our country’s time and energy.”
The Turkish President went on to say that Greece’s “harassment” of Turkish airspace and aircraft is evidence of Athens’ “hostile attitude” which is an affront to NATO and its allies.
Emanuel John Comino, 89, is an avid fisherman, a family man, a proud Kytherian and the person who first started the international campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.
“I’d rather be fishing, anytime,” says Rockhampton-born Comino with his defiant sense of humour, sharing stories about the photos that surround the wall of his office in Sydney’s south.
Emanuel Comino at his Kogarah office in Sydney’s south. Photo: TGH/Argyro Vourdoumpa
His facial expression and tone of voice change when we ask him about the Parthenon Marbles.
“Of course, we are going to take the Marbles back. One hundred percent,” he says decisively.
“There is a big movement in England and it’s getting bigger by some very distinguished local people and UNESCO,” explains the founder and chairman of the International Organising Committee – Australia – for the Restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures (IOCARPM) and vice chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).
In September, Athens will be hosting a meeting of committees from around the world which are lobbying for the return of the Marbles, aiming to coordinate and boost joint efforts for the repatriation.
“The good thing about the campaign for the return of the marbles is that this issue is never, ever going to go away until the marbles return. The British Museum may be stubborn at the moment, but you can’t be stubborn forever.”
On the Acropolis, 1976 Emanuel Comino with Mercouri in Sydney, 1983
His interest for the Marbles was ignited in 1976, during his second visit to Greece and in 1981 he set up his committee. Since then, he has been travelling around Australia and the world, presenting lectures and advocating for the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, following their removal by Lord Elgin, at the beginning of the 19th century.
As my eyes scan the walls for more photos, I stumble upon one of Comino with actress and political activist Melina Mercouri who was the minister of culture in Greece’s first socialist government in 1981. He answers my question before I ask.
“There are many highlights in my life, like when I had my first grandson and recently my great granddaughter but one of them was meeting Melina Mercouri in Sydney in 1983,” he says.
“She was wonderful for what she was doing. Forget politics, if she was alive, I reckon we’d have the marbles back by now.”
Comino promised Mercouri that he would continue the fight “until the day I die”. Mercouri passed away in 1994 and Comino kept his promise.
“The Parthenon like Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is the supreme achievement of beauty in all recorded history and it reflects the indestructibility of Hellenism.
“I will continue until the marbles come back.”
A different migration story
Asked where his passion and determination stem from, he points his finger to a frame on the wall. A photo of a young woman holding two boys, a handwritten letter in Greek and its English translation.
“Read this in Greek aloud,” he encourages me.
The letter was a series of instructions from his gravely ill mother, Sofia Venery, to his father, John Peter Comino, on how to look after his brother and him.
“My mother died at the age of thirty when I was only three and the worst thing is that I don’t have memories of her but this letter,” he says.
Emanuel Comino (right) with his mother Sophia and brother Peter
Shortly after his mother’s passing, Emanuel, his brother and their father left Rockhampton and travelled to Greece where they lived in Athens. In 1939, as World War II was declared, they moved to the island of Kythera until they returned to Australia in 1947.
“My education was limited in Greece. I was 14 when I returned to Australia and I couldn’t speak a word of English,” Comino says.
“But I was determined to learn my country’s language.”
At the age of 18, he was called for National Service in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), an achievement he is very proud of to date.
Left: Emanuel Comino (centre, in RAAF uniform) with his father John (left) and photo R and Right: Comino driving the truck for his father’s café
“I always wanted to become a pilot but I found out I was colour blind but I was determined to fly, so I trained as a military photographer,” he says.
“The RAAF gave me opportunities to learn and thrive and I will always be grateful for that. My Aussie roommates helped me to improve my English and I learned to box and play football.”
And all the lessons he learned about Australia and mateship he has returned back to the Greek and the wider community over the years.
In 1985, Emanuel Comino was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours List for services to multiculturalism, particularly through his continued support for the Greek community of Sydney. In 2010 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Emanuel Comino with members of the Kytherian Association of Australia, former President Emmanuel Alfieris (second from L) and current President Barbara Zantiotis (first from R)
And there is no sign of him slowing down.
I ask him if he has a message to share about the Kytherian Association of Australia’s (KYA) centenary year.
He shuffles through older editions of The Greek Herald and finds an interview of the Kytherian Association’s former President, Emmanuel Alfieris.
We do all this for our youth, reads the title.
“Emmanuel said it right,” he says, “because we have more to lose than gain if we lose our Hellenic identity”.
The Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW elected new executive, youth and audit committees during its annual elections on Friday, August 26 at Ashbury Senior Citizen’s Centre.
In the Executive Committee, Emmanuel Vitetzakis will be taking over the reins from Terry Saviolakis as President of the Cretan Association.
Mr Vitetzakis will be supported by Vice President, Angelo Siganakis; Secretary, Nectaria Frayne; Treasurer, Mr Saviolakis; and Public Relations Officer, Eleni Venizelou.
On the day, a number of other Executive Committee positions were also filled. They were: Assistant Secretary, Amanda Salmon; Assistant Treasurer, Yianni Skoulakis; and Committee Members, Maria Lagoudakis, Ari Paraskakis, Iliana Kougias, and Maria Vitetzakis-Townsend.
In an interview with The Greek Herald, Mr Vitetzakis said he’s “very proud and excited to be taking over the role as President.”
New President Emmanuel Vitetzakis (left) with Battle of Crete veteran, Alf Carpenter.
“My father, the late Anthony Vitetzakis, was in the Cretan Association committee back in the 1970s, so to be following in his footsteps, and now to be leading our great Association, it is such an honour,” Mr Vitetzakis said.
“My plan is to continue building on the great work that our previous Executive Committee/s have done. We are definitely going to have more of our well-known glendia.”
During the Cretan Association’s recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, August 12, members unanimously agreed to pass resolutions proposed by the Executive Committee.
Members of the Cretan Association at its recent AGM.
Mr Vitetzakis said he will push forward with these resolutions as President.
“We want to follow through with the task on becoming a Charity, which was unanimously voted for at our recent Annual General Meeting,” he said.
“This will allow us to be able to give back more to our members, and ensure a strong future for our Association through our youth.”
Speaking of the youth, a new Committee was also elected at the annual elections with Angelique Belivanis appointed President.
Youth Committee elections chaired by Terry Saviolakis.
Ms Belivanis is joined on the Youth Committee board by: Vice President, Alexander Mountakis; Secretary, Michaela Margiankakos; Assistant Secretary, Ellen Salmon; Treasurer, Christopher Townsend; Assistant Treasurer, George Siganakis; Public Relations Officers, Dylan Giannoulis, Danny Venizelou, Irene Vitetzakis, Joanne Rakis, Anthony Vitetzakis, Jonny Venizelou, and Angelique Malakonakis.
On the new Audit Committee is President, Despina Parliaros; Vice President, Frances Siganakis, and Secretary, Nina Saisanas-Giannoulis.
An art exhibition titled ‘Ukraine through the eyes of children’ is currently on display at the office of the Federation of Greek communities of Ukraine in Thessaloniki.
The exhibition features 31 powerful drawings by Ukrainian children to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24.
Kokkinakis did not earn a break point, but he made things interesting by holding from 0/40 in the third set and pushing the set to a tie-break.
At 4/4, Kokkinakis just missed a forehand down the line wide, which proved a fatal mistake. Kyrgios won the next two points on his serve to clinch his victory just two minutes short of midnight.
This was the first time the ‘Special Ks’ have played against each other on the main tour. They are seeking their third title of the year together in the men’s doubles at the US Open this year.
Kyrgios will take on French tennis player, Benjamin Bonzi, in the second round of the men’s singles.
Stefanos Tsitsipas out of US Open in first round:
Fourth seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, has bombed out of the first round of the US Open after an epic upset defeat to Daniel Elahi Galan.
The Colombian won an enthralling four-set match, 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5, at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.
Galan won the first 10 sets of the match with little fight back from Tsitsipas. The Greek came back fighting but it wasn’t enough to seal him the victory.
Galan will now face Australian Jordan Thompson in the second round on Thursday.
Greek lawmakers voted on Monday for a parliamentary investigation into the wiretapping of PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis’ phone by Greece’s intelligence service (EYP).
The motion to establish the commission received the backing of 142 of the 299 lawmakers present in Parliament for the vote, held on Monday evening.
All ruling New Democracy government’s 157 MPs essentially abstained by voting “present.” The party earlier said it was not opposed to the proposal but wanted the investigation to be extended further back in time, in order to gain a fuller picture, as also requested by the Communist Party.
The Mitsotakis government has come under fire for the wiretapping scandal.
According to AP News, the commission — where government lawmakers will have a majority — will have at least a month to carry out the probe.
Parliamentary Speaker, Kostas Tasoulas, said 29 MPs will participate in the committee. Fifteen members will come from New Democracy, 8 from SYRIZA, 2 from PASOK-Movement of Change, 1 from the Communist Party, 1 from Greek Solution, 1 from MeRA25 and 1 from the group of independent MPs.
Parliament returned early from its summer break for the debate, called by the main opposition SYRIZA party after revelations that Androulakis was put under surveillance for three months last year when he was running for his PASOK party’s leadership.
Σήμερα στη Βουλή εμφανίστηκε ένας Πρωθυπουργός βουτηγμένος στην αλαζονεία.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has since said he was unaware of the phone tap, describing it as a mistake that should have never occurred.
The head of EYP resigned over the scandal with Greek diplomat, Themistoklis Demiris, recently appointed by a parliamentary committee the new chief.
During his visit, Kerry met with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and discussed the challenges posed by climate change and ways to strengthen cooperation between Greece and the United States in dealing with the climate crisis and achieving the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“You know how committed Greece is to this agenda and how much progress we have made on numerous fronts over the past three years,” the Greek Prime Minister told Kerry, according to a press release.
“We plan to add 2 gigawatts of renewable energy sources in 2022 alone. And this ranks us among Europe’s pioneers on this front.”
The two sides also discussed Greece’s hosting of the Our Ocean Conference in 2024.
“The fact that Greece, with its amazing shipping and maritime history, will take the reins after Panama is a perfectly logical choice. So this will be a great step,” the US climate change envoy said.
The two sides then stressed the priority given to ambitious but feasible solutions for an energy transition in the shipping sector, including a “green shipping corridor.”
Mitsotakis hailed US initiatives for reducing the energy footprint of shipping and expressed hope that they will help in the rapid adoption of global measures.
Greek government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou, has dismissed recent comments made by Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, about the Greek-Turkish war (1919 – 1922).
Speaking on the occasion of the centenary of the war, Erdogan celebrated the “great attack” of the Turks against the Greeks, whom he presented as “pawns” in the service of “treacherous” foreign powers.
The Turkish President also referred to the Greeks as “despicable.”
In response, Oikonomou addressed local Greek media on Monday and said Erdogan “has chosen to distort history in order to serve his revisionist narrative.”
“Greece, on the contrary, in its long history, has been writing history,” Oikonomou added. “Greece, whenever necessary, knows perfectly well how to defend its rights, vigorously and effectively.”
Greek government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou.
Erdogan’s comments come just one day after Turkey’s state-run news agency claimed on Sunday that Greek surface-to-air missiles locked on to Turkish F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace.
Greek tennis star and No.3 seed, Maria Sakkari, stormed into the US Open second round on Tuesday morning with an emphatic 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over Tatjana Maria of Germany.
It was anything but plain sailing for Sakkari though as she went 4-1 down to Maria in the first set and looked to be in early trouble against the German.
But it didn’t take long for Sakkari to dial in and gain better control of her aggressive brand of tennis, as she reeled off the next five games to claim the first set.
The second set played out identical to the first, with Maria jumping out to another 4-1 lead. This time, Sakkari committed six double faults in the set and allowed Maria to take the set and force a third.
With coaching now acceptable at the US Open, Sakkari took a few tips from her coach and cruised through the final frame, holding off Maria to sweep all six games and book a spot in the second round.
Sakkari, who made the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows in 2021, will next meet Diane Parry or Xiy Wang.
