Greece banned music in restaurants and bars and imposed a nighttime curfew on its popular holiday island of Mykonos on Saturday after a rise in new coronavirus infections there.
Known as the party island of the super-rich, Mykonos is one of Greece’s most popular destinations, attracting more than a million visitors each summer, among them Hollywood stars, models and world-famous athletes.
Following a “worrying” local outbreak, the Civil Protection Ministry said it was banning music on the island around the clock, including in shops, cafes and beach bars. It also said it would restrict movement between 1 a.m to 6 a.m except for those going to and from work or to hospital.
Greece depends on tourism for a fifth of its economy and desperately needs a strong season this year following a disastrous 2020 when visitor numbers and revenues collapsed.
People sit at a bar, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece, July 6, 2021. Picture taken July 6, 2021. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo/File Photo
The number of infections has been rising in Greece in recent weeks, forcing the government to mandate the vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home staff, and to introduce new restrictions across the country, including allowing only vaccinated customers indoors at restaurants and clubs.
Mykonos’s Mayor Konstantinos Koukas said imposing measures at the heart of the tourism season was “unfair” and “misguided.”
“Mykonos cannot be the only island where music won’t be heard… the only thing this will achieve is that visitors will go to another island,” he wrote on Facebook.
A view of Little Venice on the island of Mykonos, Greece, August 22, 2020. Nektaria Balomatini/Eurokinissi via REUTERS
The government banned music in restaurants and bars across the country in May to avoid people having to get close to one another to be heard, increasing the chances of transmitting the virus. It lifted that measure when infections dropped.
“We call on the residents, visitors and professionals on our beautiful island to strictly follow the measures… so that we can quickly control and contain the spreading of the virus and Mykonos can return to normality,” the ministry said.
The restrictions on Mykonos will be in place until July 26.
Moving to a foreign country with three young children under the age of four would be challenging for any young mum. But in 2008, Maria Kathreptakis did exactly that when she moved her whole family from Australia to Dubai for her husband’s job, leaving everyone and everything she loved behind.
“It was really difficult to live with three young kids, my youngest was nine months old. I had to basically get in there and start from scratch. So you had to be a very strong person,” Maria tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
Despite this, Maria says she’s very grateful her family was able to experience ‘a different way of life,’ while also maintaining their Greek culture and heritage in an Arabic country.
“When we first went to Dubai, there were 5,000 Greeks at the time. Currently there’s about 10,000, so it’s doubled. There was a Greek society which I contacted and I made a lot of good friends there… and because I started a little baking business, I made halva and stuff,” Maria says.
“The kids also got to meet the different people and different customs so overall, it was a really great experience.”
Angelo, Emmanuella and Alexander Kathreptakis. Photo supplied.
‘Different city to anywhere else in the world’:
Thirteen years after their initial move, the Kathreptakis family has returned to Australia and with Maria’s three children, Emmanuella, Alexander and Angelo, now 18, 15 and 13 years old respectively, The Greek Herald had a chance to ask them what life was like in Dubai.
Emmanuella speaks first in a distinct Arabic accent which, as her mum says with a laugh, surprises everyone she comes into contact with. The 18-year-old opens up about her life in the glamorous city and stresses how it was ‘absolutely amazing.’
“It was something which I think everyone really deserves to experience. Being Greek Australian there, I thought I would lose some of my customs and traditions,” Emmanuella begins.
“But it was actually really good because growing up in a Greek household anyways and being in a country where there were alot of other expatriates as well, I was able to make many multinational friends and also attend a school that is very different to the schools we get here in Sydney.
“With alot of my friends being from Arab countries… I really enjoyed celebrating their traditions with them as well. I would have friends come over for Christmas and I would enjoy Ramadan with them.
“So yeah, life was amazing there. It’s a very different city to anywhere else in the world.”
Emmanuella has now graduated. Photo supplied.
In Dubai, expatriates aren’t allowed to study at a public school and so Emmanuella found herself in a private school, studying the International Baccalaureate curriculum and ultimately, achieving an ATAR of 99.1.
Now that she’s back in Australia, she plans on using that excellent grade to her advantage and hopes to apply to the University of Sydney to study nutrition and dietetics. In the meantime, with the state currently in lockdown, she’s also planning to make the most of Australia’s luscious green landscapes.
“One main thing that I did miss in Dubai is the nature they have here. You can’t just go for walks there [in Dubai] and just see massive lakes and bridges and trees. That’s what I absolutely love about this place,” Emmanuella concludes.
Excelling in sport in Dubai:
Emmanuella’s two brothers, Alexander and Angelo, had a similar experience when living in Dubai and they both enjoyed getting involved in sports such as soccer, tennis and swimming.
In Alexander’s case, at just 15 years of age, he has not only learnt a little bit of Arabic while still maintaining his Greek language, but he has also made a huge mark on the soccer field.
He’s played for Juventus Academy Dubai, was moved onto a group called DASA, where all the elite schools of Dubai play, and then went to Spanish team, La Liga, before playing for HPC (High Performance Centre). This is the highest level of soccer you can reach in Dubai.
“I never really thought to take it as serious back when I was smaller because everyone’s dream is to become the best in the world you know? But… I always loved to play it and as I got older, it just stayed with me so I carried on playing it,” Alexander tells The Greek Herald.
Alexander excelled in soccer.
Of course, the other thing that’s stayed with Alexander as well is the amazing friends he’s left behind in Dubai.
“Leaving Dubai was a bit hard because I’m leaving behind everyone I grew up with. It will take a bit of time but I’ll probably get used to it,” Alexander adds.
For his younger brother, Angelo, while it’s also hard adjusting to life in Australia right now, he still has some fantastic memories of his time immersing himself in the Arab culture and playing tennis – a sport he excels at.
“I enjoyed the sports in Dubai because they had a huge variety of them. I used to play tennis, football, basketball. I used to do tryouts for alot of teams. I used to do alot of things,” the 13-year-old says, before adding how he also tried to learn Arabic.
And what are his hopes for the future? “I really want to do architecture, maybe have tennis as a side hobby. Like in an academy. That would fun.”
Almost as fun as their experience living in the glamorous city of Dubai for over 10 years seems to have been! Here’s to many more successful endeavours for the Kathreptakis family.
The Cyprus Community of NSW has launched a Fire Appeal to support the victims of the recent wildfires in Cyprus, which became one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history.
The devastation caused by the fires claimed close to 60 square kilometres of forest land, with the blaze killing four Egyptian labourers, destroying 50 homes, damaging farms and power lines, and forcing the evacuation of 10 villages.
After the outbreak of the fire, Greek Interior Minister, Nicos Nouris, said it was the largest seen on the island since 1974.
“We are experiencing the most destructive fire since the founding of the Cyprus republic in both material damage, but also unfortunately in terms of human lives,” Mr Nouris said.
Trees burn in a forest in the southern foothills of the Troodos mountains as Cyprus grapples with a blistering heatwave. Picture: AFP.
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Cyprus Community of NSW President Andrew Antoniou said he was devastated to hear about the impact the wildfires have had on the already vulnerable community.
“They’re still dealing with the virus, just like we are. Their economy is really based more so on tourism than anything and that’s been very difficult for them over the last couple of years,” Antoniou said to The Greek Herald.
“So without them having that kind of money flowing in for the economy, anything devastating in nature, really, they won’t be able to find the funds to rebuild as quick as they like.”
Antoniou said the fire appeal funds will go directly to the firefighters and to the councils that have been affected by these devastating fires.
“So then at least it will help them directly rebuild the towns in those areas,” Antoniou said.
The fire appeal has been set up on GoFund Me and can be accessed via this link: https://bit.ly/3inSTQf
“We encourage everyone in the diaspora to donate whatever they can afford, to help our compatriots through this difficult time,” Antoniou said.
“It’s a direct means for those that wanted to support from here, because we are the direct contact between us and Cyprus. That’s part of our duties as a not for profit community club.”
The diaspora in Victoria is also doing their part to help out with the clean up effort, after the Cypriot Community of Melbourne and Victoria also launched a GoFund Me page in an attempt to fundraise for their compatriots.
“The Cyprus Community of Melbourne & Victoria stands hand in hand and supports the victims of the current devastating fires in Cyprus,” the committee wrote on Facebook after launching the fundraiser.
Gladys Berejiklian confirmed on Saturday morning that there were 111 new cases in NSW, with 29 cases being transmitted through the community.
Ms Berejiklian congratulated the state on almost 82,000 test results and following lockdown restrictions but warned the virus was still spreading.
“We’ve prevented thousands and thousands of people being exposed to the virus and been infected, but what we haven’t managed to do is really budge that stubborn number.
“I especially want to thank the residents of south-west Sydney who have been absolutely outstanding in relation to listening to our health advice. But unfortunately, the vast majority of cases around 80% or higher, is still in those three local government areas.”
Ms Berejiklian is asking everybody the local government areas of Fairfield, Canterbury Bankstown or Liverpool to stay in their their local government area.
“You cannot leave for work in those local government areas until July 30 at least, unless you are a health or emergency services worker and of course that includes aged care and disability care,” she said. “But unless you are providing health or emergency services care, you can only work in those communities in those exceptional circumstances.”
On the basis of updated health advice, the following changes come into effect across Greater Sydney including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour until 11.59pm on Friday, 30 July:
From 11.59pm on Saturday, 17 July:
Retail premises will be required to close (‘click and collect’, takeaway and home delivery can still operate), except the following can remain open:
o Supermarkets and grocery stores (including butchers, bakeries, fruit and vegetable stores, liquor stores and fishmongers);
o Stores that predominantly sell health, medical, maternity and infant supplies;
o Pharmacies and chemists;
o Petrol stations;
o Car hire;
o Banks and financial institutions;
o Hardware, nurseries and building supplies;
o Agricultural and rural supplies;
o Pet supplies;
o Post offices and newsagents; and
o Office supplies.
In addition to the stay-at-home rules, residents of Fairfield, Canterbury Bankstown and LiverpoolLGAs cannot leave their LGA for work except for emergency services and healthcare workers (including aged and disability workers). Where those workers do need to leave their LGA for work, they are required to be tested every three days, even if they do not have symptoms;
Anyone who leaves the home must have a mask with them at all times. They must be worn when you are working outdoors, in outdoor markets, outdoor shopping strips, and in an outdoor queues waiting for products such as coffee and food; and
All carpooling to be stopped unless among members of the same household.
From 12.01am on Monday, 19 July:
All construction to be paused; and
Non-urgent maintenance, including cleaning services, and repair work on residential premises to be paused.
From 12.01am on Wednesday, 21 July:
Employers must allow employees to work from home if the employee is able to do so, failure to do so can result in a fine of up to $10,000.
Jason Demetriou will take over as head coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs next season, and he’ll have the full support of the club and new coaching staff to bring home a Premiership.
The Rabbitohs announced on Thursday that John Morris and Ben Hornby will be acting as Assistant Coaches under Jason Demetriou in the 2022 NRL season.
Rabbitohs Head of Football, Mark Ellison, said it was important to bed down the coaching structure for 2022 early as the Club pushes forward with its 2021 campaign.
“We’re very happy with the calibre of coaches that will be leading the Club in 2022 and beyond,” Mr Ellison said.
Jason Demetriou.
“Jason has done a long coaching apprenticeship in the NRL, United Kingdom, Queensland Cup and New South Wales Cup and he is certainly ready to step up into the Head Coach role.”
Jason first had a small taste of the head coaching role in the 2020 NRL season, after Wayne Bennet was forced to undergo isolation for breaking COVID-19 restrictions.
Demetriou has since had one and half seasons as assistant coach to prove to Rabbitoh’s fans that he can continue Bennet’s success.
“For him to be able to call on a young yet experienced group of Assistant Coaches for support is very important and we couldn’t be happier with the coaching team we’ve assembled with him,” Ellison said.
“John has shown he has what it takes to coach at the top levels, as has Ben. They have a wealth of playing experience on their side but they have also developed a strong coaching background over the past decade to be the right men to appoint as Assistant Coaches to Jason.
“In saying all of this, we still have a campaign on which to concentrate in 2021, and Jason and Ben will play a big role in supporting Wayne (Bennett) and the team over the next three months as we work towards securing our 22nd premiership for this Club.”
Raised in the St George area, Demetriou spent his junior career playing for St George Illawarra Dragons before sailing across the seas to play in the English Super League. Demetriou has represented Greece and Canada on the international stage.
Following on from last week. There is a lot of silence surrounding ethnicity in Northern Greece.
Many of us Australian born Greeks may not have picked up on this until our later years.
Some of us, whose parents were born in Greek Macedonia or who may have originated from the area, are surprised to find out the fluidity of the area and the many ethnicities and language groups who lived in the area for hundreds of years side by side with Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian, various Slavic speaking peoples, Jewish, Muslim and Orthodox Christina mix in Greek Macedonia.
There have always been border issues in the area and skirmishes and many historical bad memories because of all the wars and bloodshed in the area ie. Balkan Wars, World Wars, population exchanges, various political State enforced assimilation policies where even place names were changed from Slavic to Greek names. Of course, you may say in ancient times it was a Greek area. Agreed. Alexander the Great was Greek and only Greek. Agreed. But we cannot deny these peoples existence in the area in Modern times.
I recently read a book, not published yet, about a well-known journalist from “Greek” background who at the age of 39 found out her family were not greek at all but slavic who became assimilated into the Greek culture.
I will add a spanner here and say that “Greek culture” isn’t necessarily only Greek. After all we share music, dances, food, attitudes, traditional costumes and even humour with cultures we live side by side with. Are we comfortable with accepting this? Why not?
One thing I have noticed in my research on ethnicity and Identity. It is those who feel the greatest uneasiness about where they come from and where they belong that feel the need to hold on to an artificial or even forged history of their nation.
Yianni Cartledge will present an online lecture entitled The Chios Massacre (1822) and Chiot Emigration, on Thursday 22 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
This presentation explores the 1822 Chios Massacre, where 100,000 Chiots were either killed, enslaved or displaced, and the coerced diaspora it produced. Scholars of the Greek War of Independence have previously acknowledged that the massacre was a pivotal moment in the war, although few have elaborated significantly on its long-term outcomes.
This seminar focusses on the large Chiot diaspora that fled the massacre to the ports of Europe, particularly London. Firstly, an interrogation of the realities of the Chios Massacre will be provided, with a look at comparative cases, such as the massacres at Tripolitsa, Istanbul and Psara. The resulting Chiot diaspora will then be analysed in the context of wider migration history, to ascertain the nature, features, demographics and stories of their emigration.
Discussion of Chiot settlement and community building, as well as their lasting legacies and the memory of the massacre, will place their story into the wider tapestry of emigration narratives.
Yianni Cartledge is a candidate for PhD at Flinders University, South Australia. Having a passion for Greek, Ottoman, British and Australian histories, as well as migration and diaspora histories, his current project aims to combine all these areas. The thesis, titled ‘Aegean Islander Migration to the United Kingdom and Australia, 1815-1945: Emigration, Settlement, Community Building and Integration’, will investigate the cases of the Chiots of London and Ikarians of South Australia.
His 2018 honours thesis explored the 1822 Chios Massacre under the Ottoman Empire and the ways in which it affected British attitudes towards the Greeks, leading to Christian-humanitarian intervention. An article deriving from his thesis, titled ‘The Chios Massacre (1822) and early British Christian-humanitarianism’, was published in February 2020 in Historical Research.
What was once the best Greek cake shop and cafe on Lennox Street, Hellas Cakes has been listed for sale with vacant possession, Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The legendary Greek cake shop has been trading near the corner of Swan Street since 1962, founded by Iraklis Kenos, with George Laliotis and George Kantaras joining in the 1970s.
Iraklis was a practising pastry chef in Greece when he decided to move to Melbourne and start his own business. Keeping his traditional recipes, he managed to attract curious Australians and homesick Greeks.
The owners and operators of the cake shop – descendants of the two Georges – converted it into a cafe in 2012, but are now calling time on their baklava and boureki.
Hellas Cakes has been a second home for many Greek-Australians, being one of the biggest suppliers of koliva and sperna at Greek funerals and memorials.
The 330 sq m shop is on two titles and two street frontages at 322-324 Lennox Street and 17 Botherambo Street at the rear.
Teska Carson agent George Takis is handling the August 27 auction. It is likely to sell in the mid-$3 million range.
Restrictions allowing only people vaccinated against coronavirus to be served at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes went into effect in Greece on Friday, with diners broadly in favour of the measure as the country grapples with a surge in infections.
Customers at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes have to prove they have been vaccinated. It is the latest in a series of curbs aimed at saving the summer tourist season and includes foreign tourists. It does not apply at outdoor venues.
People who have been vaccinated say the restriction is the price those refusing to get inoculated will have to pay.
“I agree that the vaccinated (people) should have some privileges,” said Yiannis Kamalakis, a customer seated at an indoor cafe in Athens. “Whoever does not want to get vaccinated, it is their choice, but they will have to live with certain restrictions.”
More than 5,000 anti-vaccine protesters, some waving Greek flags and wooden crosses, rallied outside parliament in Athens on Wednesday to oppose the government’s vaccination programme.
So far about 41% of Greeks aged over 15 years are fully vaccinated. Earlier this week the government ordered mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers and nursing home staff.
“I believe the vaccinated should have advantages over the unvaccinated,” said Leonidas Chalaris, a customer at an indoor cafe. “Since I am vaccinated, I would prefer if others (around me) are also vaccinated.”
The government has launched COVID FREE GR, an application that can scan European digital vaccination certificates to help businesses screen customers and comply with the measure.
Authorities are keen to avoid a new lockdown and business owners say they will do all they can to help the measure succeed. Greece’s economy slumped 8.2% last year, hit by lockdowns during waves of the pandemic.
“We are in favour of the government’s measures. Our only concern is that they increase business costs,” said Yiannis Chatzitheodosiou, head of the Athens trade chamber.
A Turkish coastguard fired at a boat of the Greek Cypriot port and marine police in the sea off Kato Pyrgos Tylliria early on Thursday.
The incident took place at around 3.30am during a regular patrol by the marine police to check for illegal immigrants arriving from Turkey.
According to police, a small three-member boat spotted a Turkish coastguard vessel about 11 nautical miles from the port of Kato Pyrgos Tyllirias.
The boat then started heading towards the fishing shelter of Tylliria, but the Turkish coastguard began to pursue it and fired four warning shots against it.
The fishing shelter at Kato Pyrgos.
The foreign ministry was informed of the incident, police said.
Following the incident, the president of Kato Pyrgos Tyllirias community council Nikos Kleanthous reiterated his long-standing requests for increased patrols and checks both at sea and on land.
He said it is “incomprehensible” that the port and marine authority of the area to be equipped with only one small boat.
According to Kleanthous, “the serious provocation by a Turkish coastguard is part of the protection provided to the traffickers of illegal immigrants who have come out in the area of Kato Pyrgos Tillyria very often lately”.
