Greece’s Foreign Ministry and President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, have said that images showing a band dancing to electronic music at the Panagia Soumela monastery in Turkey were “a desecration” of the monument.
The ministry called on Turkish authorities “to do their utmost to prevent such acts from being repeated” and to respect the site, a candidate for UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites.
Sakellaropoulou also expressed her shock at the incident on Tuesday during the opening night of an exhibition at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens.
Sakellaropoulou at the opening night of an exhibition at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens. Photo: InTime News.
One of the icons on display at the exhibition was that of Panagia Soumela and Sakellaropoulou said she needed to single it out due to the “the recent desecration of this World Heritage Site.”
The Panagia Soumela icon is one “that Hellenism, especially Pontic Hellenism, considers an integral part of its identity, as it depicts the Mother of God, their guide and protector in the painful experience of uprooting and refugeedom,” the President added.
Statement by @GreeceMFA regarding the desecration of the historical Panagia Soumela Monastery: “These images are offensive and add to a series of actions by Turkish authorities against World Heritage Sites”. https://t.co/iipHgPrnA8
These statements come after the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also sent a complaint to Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, where he described the performance as “an insult to the monument.”
Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment.
Founded in the 4th century, Soumela is a monastic complex built into a sheer cliff above the Black Sea forest in eastern Turkey. It was long ago stripped of its official Orthodox Christian status and now operates as a museum administered by the Culture Ministry in Turkey.
Did you know the Guinness Book of Records ranks the Hellenic language as the richest in the world with 5 million words and 70 million word types?
We’re not surprised as it’s clear the Greek language has had an important influence on the English language.
What kind of influence? This International Greek Language Day we take a closer look.
Brief history of the Greek language:
Greek is one of the oldest Indo-European languages and is usually divided into Ancient Greek and Modern Greek.
Modern Greek is derived from Koine, a common dialect of Ancient Greek that was understood throughout the Greek-speaking world at that time. In the 19th century, Modern Greek became the official language of the Kingdom of Greece.
According to britishcouncil.org, the Ancient Greeks were the first to use a ‘true’ alphabet. That is, one representing both vowels and consonants.
English expressions and words:
Many historians suggest that more than 150,000 words of English are derived from Greek words. These include technical and scientific terms, such as anthropology and photography, but also more common words like dialogue, economy and telephone.
In a typical everyday 80,000-word English dictionary, about 5 percent of the words are directly borrowed from Greek and another 25 percent are borrowed indirectly.
Words that starts with ‘ph-‘ are also usually of Greek origin, for example: philosophy, physical, photo, phrase, philanthropy.
And then there’s common expressions in English which derive from ancient Greek myths and beliefs. Take for example ‘Achilles heel,’ which means to have a weakness or vulnerable point. Achilles was a central character in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, and his only weakness was his heel.
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been told that he should “in his final days before being sacked” arrange the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens as he previously advocated, The Independent reports.
This comment was made by Labour Party politician, Lord Campbell-Savours, during a Parliament sitting today.
To make his point, Campbell-Savours highlighted a 1986 article written by Johnson when he was a student at Oxford University, where he called for the ancient sculptures to be repatriated.
“How does the minister respond to Boris Johnson’s earlier, elegant words of wisdom when he wrote in more romantic times: ‘The Elgin marbles should leave this northern whisky-drinking guilt-culture, and be displayed where they belong: in a country of bright sunshine and the landscape of Achilles, the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea’?” Campbell-Savours asked.
“Would it not be a generous act in his final days before being sacked to arrange for their return and we could retain replicas?”
In response, UK Culture Minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, said: “Fortunately Government policy is not made by the things ministers wrote when we were undergraduates.”
Calls grow for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
This parliamentary debates comes as Johnson currently battles to retain the Tory Party leadership.
In a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last year, Johnson ruled out discussing the Parthenon marbles, saying it was a matter for the British Museum.
This refusal for repatriation comes despite UNESCO stipulating that intergovernmental talks should take place to resolve the long-running dispute.
There’s only day before we celebrate International Greek Language Day on February 9 and to mark the occasion, we just had to have a look at the historical speeches of Greek politician and economist, Xenophon Zolotas.
Born in Athens on 26 April 1904, Zolotas studied economics at the University of Athens, and later studied at the Leipzig University in Germany and the University of Paris in France.
From November 23, 1989 to April 11, 1990, Zolotas also served as the Prime Minister of Greece.
Zolotas was even Director of the Bank of Greece in 1944–1945, 1955–1967 (when he resigned in protest at the regime), and 1974–1981.
Xenophon Zolotas.
It was in this role as Director of the Bank when he first appeared in front of an audience at an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development conference in 1959.
At the time, Zolotas began his speech in English but with Greek words to emphasise the wealth of the Greek language and the fact that countless Greek words enrich English.
“I always wanted to address this Assembly in Greek, but I realised that if I did it would be incomprehensible. I discovered, however, that I could make my speech in Greek, which would still be English to everyone,” Zolotas said at the time.
He then preceded to complete his speech, whilst also grabbing international attention and shifting opinions around Greece and the Civil War.
Small excerpt from one of his speeches:
Kyrie,
I eulogize the archons of the Panethnic Numismatic Thesaurus and the Oecumenical Trapeza for the orthodoxy of their axioms methods and policies, although there is an episode of cacophony of the Trapeza with Hellas.
With enthusiasm we dialogue and synagonize at the synods of our didymous Organizations in which polymorphous economic ideas and dogmas are analyzed and synthesized. Our critical problems such as the numismatic plethora generate some agony and melancholy. This phenomenon is charateristic of our epoch.
But, to my thesis we have the dynamism to program therapeutic practices as a prophylaxis from chaos and catastrophe. In parallel a panethnic unhypocritical economic synergy and harmonization in a democratic climate is basic. I apologize for my eccentric monologue.
I emphasize my eucharistia to your Kyrie to the eugenic and generous American Ethnos and to the organizers and protagonists of this Ampitctyony and the gastronomic symposia.
Cowandilla Primary School teacher and EdTechSA outgoing President, Tina Photakis, was recently recognised by EducatorsSA for her service to education in South Australia with a certificate presented by state Education Minister, John Gardner.
The award recognises the Greek Australian teacher for her efforts and her commitment to provide support and leadership to educators who use technology in learning and teaching for more than two decades through her various roles with professional association EdTechSA.
“When I got involved with the association digital technologies were not even in the curriculum and people who were interested to learn about them were all ahead of their time,” Tina Photakis told The Greek Herald.
“I loved it. I’ve always been a geek.”
Along with this recognition, Mrs Photakis who is currently the Vice President of the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE) became the sixth person in EdTechSA’s history to receive an Honorary Lifetime membership.
Asked about the highlights of her career with the association Mrs Photakis says that she enjoyed using her network to source local and international expertise to help her colleagues learn about integrating technologies in the classroom.
“I seek to learn from others. I am a teacher but also a learner for life,” she said also referring to the challenges of leading a volunteer-ran organisation especially during a pandemic.
“There is a lot of work because when everything fails it backstops with you. Many times – especially these last few years- I had to do things to relieve other committee members with young families and commitments.
“You have to deal with volunteers but you know you need a clear vision and direction for your committee. I’ve built up EdTechSA to be like a family but at the same time I had a grassroots approach and had to roll up my sleeves so many times.”
Commenting on the pros and cons of technology in education Tina Photakis says “technology is a tool.”
“I’ve always believed that technology cannot replace a good teacher,” she said.
“Stay close to your children and discuss with them. We don’t want to have stressed kids online…it’s important to teach them about cyber-safety and this is another thing we do at school.”
Mrs Photakis has embedded digital technologies throughout all her teaching subjects which include ICT, Modern Greek, Drama, Music and Geography.
“Who would have thought a Greek primary school teacher who started of as a member of EdTechSA would end up being the President after many years? Not me,” she says, laughing.
In 2017 she received the Making IT Happen Award for her outstanding contribution to the promotion of digital technologies in learning and in 2011 she was awarded educator of the Year and there are no signs se will slow down any time soon.
“I would like to thank everybody and especially my family. I am overwhelmed from all the best wishes,” Mrs Photakis said.
In a historic first, the Ecumenical Service to mark the commencement of the Australian Parliament was held this morning at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox church in Canberra.
The service has been held in the local Anglican, Catholic or Presbyterian churches in previous years, making this event the first time the service has been held in a Greek Orthodox church.
All photos copyright The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“We had discussions last year about the need for other members of the Council of Churches to be able to host this Ecumenical Service at the start of the Parliamentary year,” the Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, Luke Gosling MP, told The Greek Herald on the day.
“I’ve been working with John Loukadellis [the President of the Greek Orthodox Community and Church of Canberra – GOCCC] and Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis [the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Canberra] for many months now, and it’s wonderful that this day has come and it’s a great way to kick off the Parliament.”
About 170 people, many of them Parliamentarians, arrived on the day and were greeted by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, who presided over the service.
Archbishop Makarios arrives and speaks with Maria Vamvakinou MP and Steve Georganas MP.Bishop Bartholomew, Bishop Silouan and Archbishop Makarios (centre) stand with Members of Parliament.Ambassador of Greece in Australia, George Papacostas.Senator Zed Seselja with John Loukadellis.
Those in attendance included the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison; Federal Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese; Maria Vamvakinou MP; Steve Georganas MP; Ambassador of Greece in Australia, George Papacostas; His Grace Bishop Silouan of Sinope; Bishop Bartholomew and the President of the GOCCC, Mr Loukadellis.
Federal Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese, arrives.Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, arrives.Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.Mr Morrison greets Archbishop Makarios.Mr Morrison enters church.
Following the arrival of the Prime Minister, attendees moved inside and began to sing the Australian National Anthem, followed by a Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country by Bishop Bartholomew.
Senator Amanda Stoker and Minister Gosling then gave a small greeting, followed by an Old Testament Reading from the Prime Minister, a New Testament Reading from the Labor Leader, and a sermon by Archbishop Makarios. The Prayer of Intercession was given by Archbishop Most Reverend Christopher Prowse and The Right Reverend Dr March Short.
Ministers enjoy the Ecumenical Service.Albanese gives a reading.Senator Amanda Stoker and Minister Luke Gosling.Morrison gives a reading.Archbishop Makarios gives a sermon.Labor and Liberal Ministers.Archbishop Most Reverend Christopher Prowse.The Right Reverend Dr March Short.
After the event, the Prime Minister said holding the service in a Greek Orthodox church “was particularly nice.”
“First time we’ve done that and it reminded me, as we consider some of the big issues of today and the Parliamentary year, that people from all around the world have come to our country and they’ve so often come from many different faiths and many different backgrounds,” Mr Morrison said.
Bishop Bartholomew agreed with Mr Morrison and told The Greek Herald that the event “recognises the important role that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese plays in the Ecumenical Movement, the Australian Parliament and the wider community.”
The Prime Minister leaves church.Barnaby Joyce MP.Peter Dutton MP.Albanese with other Labor ministers.
“Under the esteem leadership of Archbishop Makarios… the establishment of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan District of Canberra demonstrates that the Church places importance in preserving our faith, language and culture for the people of Canberra and that the Greeks of Canberra now have a voice,” the Bishop said.
The President of the GOCCC, Mr Loukadellis, added that the service “was a historic and memorable event for the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia and for the Greek Community of Canberra in particular.”
Mr Loukadellis speaks with Archbishop Makarios.
(L-R) Vice President of the GOCCC, Pana Tsironis, Steve Georganas MP and Mr Loukadellis.
“We are immensely proud of what today means for our faith and to us as Greek Orthodox Christians,” Mr Loukadellis told The Greek Herald.
“I would like to thank Archbishop Makarios and Bishop Bartholomew for their spiritual guidance, as well as the Honorable Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and all the Parliamentarians who attended this historic event for our church.
“Today, Greeks of Canberra should be proud.”
*All photos copyright The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
A trial to overhaul the 9am to 3pm school day in NSW could start later this year, using teaching models from before and after school tutoring programs established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools will be able to apply for the trial through an expression of interest process under development. The trial is expected to start in term three.
Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday again voiced support for modernising the school day, as he announced a landmark women’s economic review to increase female workforce participation and help shape the state budget.
Mr Perrottet argued that the 9am to 3pm timetable was set up at a very different time in life, adding that his government needed to “look outside the box … to be bold and brave”.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos told Sydney Morning Herald that talk of overhauling the school day was a distraction designed to grab headlines.
“We have serious issues concerning education, top of the list is a significant teacher shortage, with underlying causes of uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads,” he said.
Mr Gavrielatos said school starting and finishing times already varied across NSW, including at Merrylands East Public, which operates from 8am to 1.15pm, with playground supervision from 7.30am and one recess break.
He said trialling changed school hours was futile because, “what might work in one school like Merrylands would be anathema to another”.
Greece’s prime minister sacked the country’s agriculture minister Monday after video surfaced of him laughing approvingly as a local party official expounded on how compensation payments for natural disasters can help win elections.
A government statement said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to the minister, Spilios Livanos, to demand an explanation over his reaction to the “unacceptable reference.”
The statement said Livanos “admitted that he should have reacted differently” and offered his resignation, which was accepted.
Giorgos Georgantas will be the new Rural Development and Food minister, following the resignation of Spilios Livanos on Monday.
The video was from a meeting Livanos attended last week in Sparta in southern Greece. In it the mayor, himself a former cabinet official when Mitsotakis’ conservative New Democracy party was in government in 2004-2009, is heard saying that the party was able to win the 2007 election against the odds “by taking bags (of money) to compensate” people afflicted by wildfires that had ravaged southern Greece weeks earlier, killing scores of people.
Livanos appeared in the video to laugh and say it would be hard to match that “epic achievement.” During his visit to Sparta, he had announced compensation payments to farmers who suffered crop damage from frost.
The governing party also expelled the mayor, Petros Doukas, from its ranks, saying his remarks “as well as being historically inaccurate, have nothing to do with New Democracy’s principles and values.”
Deputy Digital Governance Minister Giorgos Georgantas will be the new Rural Development and Food minister, following the resignation of Spilios Livanos.
Georgantas (54), a New Democracy MP from Kilkis, will be sworn in at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday (local time) in the presence of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
The funeral of former Greek president Christos Sartzetakis was held in Athens on Monday.
The former president, who died last Thursday at the age of 93, was buried with head of state honours “as a minimum tribute to his excellent services to the people, the country and the nation.”
The funeral at the Athens Cathedral was attended by the state and political leadership of the country, including the current president of the Hellenic Parliament Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the leadership of the armed forces and the judiciary, as well as friends, co-workers and family.
The burial, held at the Athens 1st cemetery, was restricted to the immediate family due to Covid restrictions and the family’s own wishes.
Eulogies were read out by President Sakellaropoulou, Supreme Court President Maria Georgiou and University of Piraeus Professor of Public-sector Law Theodoros Panagopoulos.
Sakellaropoulou noted that his life had been inseparably linked with important moments in Greece’s history and that his work as a magistrate investigating the Lambrakis case in the troubled decade of the 1960s had made him a figure of international renown.
Nick Politis is a migrant from the Greek island of Kythera who has helped save rugby league in Australia and turned a single car dealership into a $2 billion fortune.
In a special article for The Sydney Morning Herald, the life of Politis has been examined in detail, with many of his close friends sharing what they think about the charismatic businessman.
Politis was born to George and Argyro Politis on Kythera in 1941, only months after the Germans took over the island during WWII.
At the end of the war, Politis and his family arrived in Australia when he was eight. They ran a cafe in the remote town of Blackall and Politis was given a sister, Maria.
Nick Politis.
From an early age, a strong work ethic was instilled in him.
Now, Politis is one of Australia’s least-known billionaires. He’s 80, of modest height and does yoga four times a week. He also happens to be one of the most powerful men in rugby league as the Chairman of the Sydney Roosters, and is the most influential person in the Australian car industry.
How?
“You’ve got to be honest with people, first of all, and you have got to care about people,” Politis says in the interview.
“In business, it’s all about having good employees, and showing a lot of faith in them. It works. It’s the same with a football team.”
