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Hundreds protest in Athens in solidarity march for Koufodinas

The Greek Herald
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Hundreds protest in Athens in solidarity march for Koufodinas

Hundreds of people marched through central Athens on Tuesday evening to express their solidarity with a convicted terrorist whose health is failing after being on hunger strike for 54 days.

The protesters shouted slogans and held banners with the phrase “There should be no dead hunger striker,” referring to Dimitris Koufodinas, who stopped eating on January 8 to protest his transfer from a rural penitentiary in Volos to a high-security prison in central Greece.

He is serving 11 life sentences plus 25 years for his role as the main hitman in the terrorist group November 17. His protest has been linked to a spate of attacks and targeting of police stations and politicians. 

Convicted terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas

SYRIZA MP remarks on terror group causes backlash

SYRIZA MP Thodoris Dritsas provoked a backlash on Tuesday after stating that the November 17 terror group, of which jailed terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas was a leading member, had not intimidated anyone.

“I do not think anyone has been intimidated by the actions of these organizations. No one has been intimidated by November 17. On the contrary, the Greek people have been terrorized by many other policies,” Dritsas told One TV, adding that the government’s stance toward Koufodinas, who is on a hunger strike to demand a prison transfer, is vindictive.

“The government is acting in a retaliatory and illegal manner because most of the victims of November 17 and Dimitris Koufodinas belonged to the right wing,” Dritsas said, while denouncing the government, claiming that it is not complying with the law. 

In response, ruling New Democracy called on SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras to take a stand on the statements by Dritsas, calling them “inadmissible for a representative of a parliamentary party.”

*Source: With information from Kathimerini, Reuters

Significant course correction for Fronditha Care as it paves the way forward

The Greek Herald
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Significant course correction for Fronditha Care as it paves the way forward

Just over three weeks from taking the reins at Fronditha Care, CEO Faye Spiteri Tsolakis, has made vital inroads in recalibrating the organisation, with a focus on ensuring sustainability and an eye to future growth. In collaboration with the Board of Directors and Executive team, she is progressing a longer-term strategy for framing the way forward to turnaround the business and realign operational plans to sustain success into the future.

Spiteri Tsolakis said: “Fronditha Care is shaping the future of the organisation and its service delivery, securing financial viability and sustainability whilst maintaining the highest standards of clinical care and care oversight.”

Spiteri Tsolakis noted, given the 2019/2020 deficit, it was critical to take immediate action and review the entire organisation’s operations to look for efficiencies. This included a review of workforce costs alongside all other expenditure.

READ MORE: Fronditha Care appoints new CEO

The first stage of the change process began with an organisational restructure at a corporate level. Spiteri Tsolakis said: “This decision was not taken lightly but it was important to review how we function. Importantly, we made a deliberate decision to lessen the impact on service delivery and stayed true to our service promise with no reduction in numbers of staff across community or residential services.”

Spiteri Tsolakis continued: “In consultation with Residential Managers, we reviewed and changed our master rosters across all facilities and adjusted these with regard to each facility.

READ MORE: Fronditha Care ushers in new leadership era with Board of Directors refresh.

In concluding remarks, Spiteri Tsolakis said: “Change is sometimes hard to accept but it’s a constant in life and we need to rise to our responsibilities and ensure Fronditha Care gets through this difficult time to become a bigger and better organisation. The Board, Executive and I have accepted the challenges we face head on because we know it is incumbent on us to be the agents of change that will see the organisation thrive once more.

The Board and I want to reassure the community that we will continue to provide the highest standards of clinical care – as that is the reason for our being. We will also continue to support the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff because they are the backbone of Fronditha Care. In tandem, we are reframing our financial performance and have taken this tough course of action now to ensure we are here in service of the community for at least another 44 years.”

Dimitrios Krallidis named as finalist in Australia’s Ethnic Business Awards

Andriana Simos
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Dimitrios Krallidis named as finalist in Australia’s Ethnic Business Awards

Dimitrios Jim Krallidis’ family-run business, DSK Kitchens and Furniture, has been named as a finalist in this year’s Ethnic Business Awards. These awards recognise the outstanding accomplishments of migrant and Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Mr Krallidis tells The Greek Herald that he’s ‘very happy’ to be an award finalist, as it is a recognition of all his achievements ever since he arrived in Australia from the Greek island of Mytilini in 1969.

“When I arrived in Australia with my parents at 14 years of age, I was already in the trade because I worked in Greece as a furniture maker from the age of nine,” Mr Krallidis says.

“I didn’t know any English though, but I was hard working. Instead of going to clubs and playing poker, I was concentrating on cabinet making. I just wanted to do better.”

The 67-year-old business man quickly put his experience to good use and took a job at a Jewish-owned cabinet making business, where he went from foreman to general foreman to production manager within 10 years.

Later, Mr Krallidis moved into insulation work as a subcontractor for three years, followed by a successful business partnership with some friends. In 1992, he decided to start his own business with his wife and two sons, called DSK Kitchens and Furniture.

“Everything we do is custom made with individual designs. Most of our work incorporates kitchens, laundries, wardrobes and study rooms,” Mr Krallidis says proudly.

“We also have a factory with a fully computerised and operational system, as well as one of the most upgraded showrooms in Sydney.”

With such a successful building career under his belt, it’s no surprise then that Mr Krallidis has no plans to slow down any time soon.

“I’m a very proud Greek but I’m also a very proud Australian. I live and work here and I’m very happy to have achieved what I have together with my family. And I still have good strength and power to continue for years to come,” Mr Krallidis says.

The 32nd Ethnic Business Awards will be available to view on Facebook Live, SBS, NITV or Aurora. Date is To Be Confirmed.

Remembering the influential Greek chef, Nikolaos Tselementes

Andriana Simos
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Remembering the influential Greek chef, Nikolaos Tselementes

We take a look back at the incredible life achievements of Greece’s first ‘Masterchef’ and teacher of cooking and confectionery, Nikolaos Tselementes.

Early Life:

Nikolaos Tselementes was born in 1878 in the village of Exabela in Sifnos and grew up in Athens, where he finished high school. Initially, he worked as a notary and then as a cook, working in his uncle’s restaurant. He studied cooking for a year in Vienna and on his return, worked as a chef in various embassies.

Career as a Chef:

Greece’s first ‘Masterchef’ and teacher of cooking and confectionery, Nikolaos Tselementes.

Nikolaos became famous with the magazine “Cooking Guide,” which began publishing in 1910 and contained recipes, dietary advice, international cuisine and news about cooking. 

In 1919, he became the director of the “Hermes” hotel. The following year he left for America, where he worked in some of the most expensive restaurants in the world, while also studying cooking, confectionery and diet.

In April 1926, Nikolaos’ book “Cooking and Confectionery Guide” was published, making it the first complete cooking guide in Greece. The book was a great success and was reprinted more than fifteen times in the following decades. 

Nikolaos returned permanently to Athens and founded a small school of cooking and confectionery. In 1950, he published a book in Greek about Greek cooking called “Greek Cookery.”

Nikolaos was heavily influenced by French cuisine.

Influenced by French cuisine, Nikolaos was a moderniser of Greek cuisine, as through him Greek housewives learned béchamel, pirozhki and bouillabaisse, which according to some was tantamount to falsifying Greek cuisine.

Death and Legacy:

Nikolaos died on March 2, 1958 in Athens, at the age of 80. His name is now synonymous with cooking guides, and is also used as a joke to someone who knows how to cook very well.

Honoring his memory and contribution to Greek gastronomy, the journalist, playwright and academic, Spyros Melas, dedicated a commendation to him in the newspaper “Eleftheria” in the issue of March 5, 1958.

Source: San Simera.

Murder charge for Kerry Kourpanidis could be downgraded

The Greek Herald
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Murder charge for Kerry Kourpanidis could be downgraded

Alleged Kingston Hotel murderer, Kerry Kourpanidis, will soon learn whether prosecutors will push on with a murder charge over the bashing death of tradie, Warren Hordpenko.

Mr Kourpanidis, 35, briefly faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday, where he has previously pleaded not guilty to Mr Hordpenko’s murder.

RELATED: Lawyers in negotiation over possible guilty plea for alleged murderer, Kerry Kourpanidis.

The court heard Mr Kourpanidis’ legal team had written to prosecutors since the case was last in court and that prosecutors will respond this month.

The courts have repeatedly heard Mr Kourpanidis’ lawyers have been locked in negotiations with prosecutors about whether they might accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

READ MORE: Kerry Kourpanidis charged with murder of man at Canberra pub.

Ever since Mr Kourpanidis first appeared in court, his lawyers have argued that manslaughter, rather than murder, was a more appropriate charge for prosecutors to lay.

FULL STORY: The Daily Telegraph.

Painted wall of 1821 Greek Revolution heroes vandalised in Greece

Andriana Simos
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Painted wall of 1821 Greek Revolution heroes vandalised in Greece

A painted wall of Greek Revolution heroes, including Theodoros Kolokotronis, Laskarina Bouboulina and Grigorios Papaflessas, has been vandalised by graffitti in Argyroupoli, Greece.

The faces of the heroes, which had been painted by Greek artist Evrutos to mark the bicentenary anniversary of the 1821 Greek Revolution, were covered by black paint, including on the eyes and mouths.

The wall of Greek heroes has been vandalised. Photos: Facebook / Evrutos.

Greek politician, Giannis Konstantatos, confirmed on Facebook that the wall would be restored by Tuesday.

READ MORE: Mysterious Greek artist paints the walls of Athens with Greek Revolution heroes.

“We were not surprised by the desecration of the Heroes of 1821, which we had crafted to honour their struggles,” Mr Konstantatos wrote.

Photo: Facebook / Evrutos.

“By tomorrow we will have restored the works. And we’ll do it as many times as we have to no doubt.”

Evrutos’ paintings use bold, thick outlines and splashes of color to bring the heroic figures to life and send a message to Greek society, reminding them of the contributions these great men made to Greek history.

Chanel Contos to publish thousands more teenage sexual assault stories on new website

The Greek Herald
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Chanel Contos to publish thousands more teenage sexual assault stories on new website

*WARNING: This story contains references to sexual assault.

More stories of sexual assault in school communities were published by Greek Australian, Chanel Contos, on Monday night as part of a growing movement to improve sex and consent education in Australian schools.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Contos has received more than 4,000 graphic allegations of sexual assault since she launched an online petition calling for earlier sexual consent education across Australia.

READ MORE: Chanel Contos behind petition calling for earlier sexual consent education in Sydney schools.

Her new website has already published over 1000 of these anonymised student stories, while hundreds of other testimonies which Contos originally shared via a confronting 70-page Google document will also be migrated to the new site.

Chanel’s new website.

Thousands more testimonies will be added in the coming weeks after they are screened for identifying details, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“The point of this is to scale it, take it nationwide. I want this to continue to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the government’s mind, because we need educational reform and societal reform. Everyone needs to be conscious of their contribution to rape culture,” Contos told the Australian media outlet.

The testimonies published so far have described in detail young women’s experiences of their male school peers forcing them to perform oral or anal sex, or raping them while they were asleep or unconscious. Individuals are not named, but most women have chosen to identify themselves by their school or graduating year.

Greek Australian, Chanel Contos.

Dozens of private schools in both Sydney and Melbourne have now vowed to take stronger action on consent education in response to these claims, with many school principals labelling the testimonies “disturbing, bleak but essential reading.”

Contos said she wanted to retain the sobering effect of that Google document on her website.

“The point of it is to have the dramatic endless scroll, the thousands of testimonies and the thousands of signatures. It is so prevalent in our lives – I want everyone to be shocked, and stunned,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Going forward, Contos’ website (teachusconsent.com) allows people to submit their own stories, sign the petition for better sex education and download templates for emailing their schools or MPs. She also plans to add educational resources for parents and students, as well as resources for victims of sexual assault.

This website comes as both school circles and Parliament House have been reckoning with sexual assault claims over the past month. Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has been urged to sideline a federal cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988 as authorities investigate, while former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins has taken her formal complaint over an alleged rape to the police.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.

Mathias Cormann makes it to final two candidates in OECD race as Greek contender withdraws

Andriana Simos
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Mathias Cormann makes it to final two candidates in OECD race as Greek contender withdraws

Former Australian Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, has made it to the final two candidates in the race to become the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Cormann will now face Sweden’s candidate, Cecilia Malmstrom, in the final stage of the selection process.

This comes after Greek candidate, Anna Diamantopoulou, withdrew from contention on Monday after failing to find enough support among the OECD’s 38 member countries. Swiss candidate, Philipp Hildebrand, also pulled out last Friday.

“I decided to withdraw my bid to be SG of the OECD, in an effort to facilitate consensus in the selection process,” Diamantopoulou said on Twitter, adding that she was “grateful” to Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for his “constant trust and endorsement.”

In response, Mitsotakis congratulated Diamantopoulou for “a truly inspiring campaign” and thanked the members countries who supported her candidacy.

“In the face of the great challenges we all face, Greece remains committed to an ever closer cooperation within the OECD framework,” Mitsokis added on Twitter.

READ MORE: Greek and Australian candidates considered strong contenders for OECD post.

READ MORE: Greek and Australian candidates in final top four for OECD Secretary-General role.

A Cormann victory would be the first time the OECD has been led by someone from the Asia-Pacific region, but there is also a strong push by some members for the organisation to have its first female leader.

“We will continue to work and engage with OECD member countries around the world until the final decision is made,” Cormann told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We are not taking anything or anyone for granted. We are putting our best foot forward. It will be up to OECD member countries to decide who is the right choice.”

Observers think Australia could secure backing from within eastern Europe as well as Britain, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and many Latin America members.

The Australian government is hopeful that the United States will also support Cormann but the Biden administration’s position is unclear.

READ MORE: RAAF jet flying Mathias Cormann around Europe as he campaigns for OECD job.

Exhibition launch of Angela Kiki’s 1821 Greek hero portraits hailed a success

Andriana Simos
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Exhibition launch of Angela Kiki’s 1821 Greek hero portraits hailed a success

Angela Kiki Konstantinopoulou’s painted portraits of the heroes of the 1821 Greek Revolution were on display at the Campbelltown Arts Centre on Saturday at the launch of her ‘Heroes of 1821’ exhibition.

During the launch, which was organised by Macarthur Greeks, Angela’s portraits of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Manto Mavrogenous and Lord Byron were able to be viewed by attendees, including Camden Council Mayor Theresa Fedeli, Wollondilly Shire Council Mayor Robert Khan and Deputy Mayor Michael Banasik, as well as Campbelltown Mayor George Brticevic.

Eric Kontos, Secretary and Vice Chairman of Macarthur Greeks, Mayor George Brticevic of Campbelltown, Angela, John Tsekas, Event Coordinator at Macarthur Greeks, and Terry Diomis, Macarthur Greeks Cultural Ambassador. Photo supplied.

Also in attendance was the Director of the Campbelltown Arts Center, Michael Dagostino, Communication Advisor at the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney, Kostas Giannakodimos, and President of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney, Liana Vertzayias.

LEFT: Angela and Eleni Elefterias with Mavro Mantogenous painting. RIGHT: Crowds at the launch. Photos supplied.

“The day had its challenges due to COVID-19 but it didn’t matter because everyone really enjoyed themselves. Most people didn’t want to leave,” Event Coordinator at Macarthur Greeks, John Tsekas, tells The Greek Herald.

A number of speeches from the Campbelltown Mayor and Mr Giannakodimos were given, followed by traditional kleftiko dances from the Hellenic Institute of Dance and Culture, and a panel discussion.

“The panel featured Eleni Elefterias as host, artist Angela and art critic, Yiannis Koutsodimas. They were discussing art and its history, as well as the importance of keeping Greek culture alive through art,” Mr Tsekas says.

The night ended with a number of young women performing the Dance of Zalongo, which took place during the Greek Revolution when the Souliotisses avoided capture by dancing and throwing themselves and their children from a cliff.

All 16 of Angela’s artworks will be shown together for the first time in Canberra on March 20-21, and then in Sydney at the AHEPA hall for ten days.

Greek community of Sydney dresses up for Apokries Festival at Mytilenian House

Andriana Simos
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Greek community of Sydney dresses up for Apokries Festival at Mytilenian House

There were plenty of colourful masks, feather boas and glitter on display at the Mytilenian House in Sydney on Saturday as the Greek community celebrated Apokries with a special festival.

The festival fundraiser, organised by the Dionysus Theatre Company in anticipation of their upcoming play ‘Your Mother’s Pension’ on May 8, was attended by over 180 people who enjoyed delicious food and took part in a number of activities.

In fact, the night kick started with a special comedy skit by members of the theatre company, called ‘The nephew of Mr Trambakoula in Australia.’

“The highlight of the night was the skit. Everyone loved it and thought it was really funny. They kept asking for more,” Co-Producer of the Dionysus Theatre Company, Maria Houliaras, tells The Greek Herald.

This was followed by a raffle, as well as a number of Apokries games including one from Macedonia, where people wore masks on stage and performed a traditional ritual dance from the region.

A prize for best dressed was also awarded on the night to James Paniaras for his COVID-19 costume, which Maria says was ‘amazing.’

James Paniaras (photo on left, person on right) won best dressed. Photos: Facebook.

“He had a hat with syringes coming out of his head and was passing out little ‘injections’ to the adults, which were actually shots, and chocolates for the kids. It was great,” Maria says.

A enjoyable night which was needed by all to not only let their hair down, but to also mark the important Greek celebration of Apokries.

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