A Global Centre of Pontian Hellenism is set to be built on the site of the former airport at Elliniko in southern Athens, Ekathimerini reports.

The plans for the new centre were unveiled at an event held at the Mikis Theodorakis Cultural and Conference Centre on January 14.

Greece’s President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, was present at the event and stressed how Pontian Greeks have successfully managed to maintain their culture despite their “tragic history that included persecution, slaughter and violent attempts at Islamisation.”

“Pontian Greeks who left their Asia Minor homes as refugees brought to Greece their drive and values, their loyalty to country, family, community and traditions, their hard work and tireless inventiveness,” Sakellaropoulou stressed.

The new ‘Hall for the Global Pontian Greeks of Sourmena’ is now set to showcase this culture proudly.

Designed by Doxiadis Associates, it is expected to be completed in about three years and will house the local Pontian association, its library and the museum that is currently located in Sourmena Square. It will have also spaces for conferences and events.

This announcement comes as the Greek Ministry of Culture confirmed that it will dedicate 2022 to the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe and to the promotion of the memory of the refugee communities, including the Pontian Greeks.

Source: Ekathimerini.

Greek Police have recovered a weapon they believe was used to kill a 19-year-old student early Tuesday morning in a district of Thessaloniki, northern Greece.

Ekathimerini reports that the murder weapon, a sickle, was discovered by locals a few meters away from the crime scene, next to a garbage bin.

According to initial reports, the victim, Alkis Kambanos, along with two friends, were intercepted and attacked on the street in Harilaou around 1 am by several people riding in two cars.

The 19-year-old bled to death after being stabbed in the upper thigh. The other two are being treated for multiple injuries at the Papanikolaou Hospital.

According to reports, one of the attackers made a reference to a local soccer team before launching into the assault, leading investigators to believe the incident is linked to rival fan clubs.

Police sources believe at least 10 people were involved in the attack.

Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, expressed his abhorrence of the teen’s murder during a conversation with MPs on the sidelines of a meeting with party officials in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.

Mitsotakis contacted Citizen Protection Minister, Takis Theodorikakos, asking him that priority be given to the investigation of the crime.

Kambanos was a first-year student at the School of Economics and Political Science of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The rector at the university, Nikos Papaioannou, has condemned the attack.

“Nineteen-year-old Alkis had his whole life ahead of him. He came to our university to make his dreams come true. Instead, he fell victim to blind fan violence. We are all devastated and we condemn in the most categorical way this heinous event,” Papaioannou said.

Two separate bomb explosions have targeted a journalist and a unionist in the Greek capital, according to local media.

Unidentified individuals detonated explosive devices on Tuesday morning outside the residences of Greek journalist, Dimitris Kambourakis, and the head of the country’s police union, Vasilis Doumas, the state-run news agency AMNA reported.

Security camera footage of the attack on the home of Kambourakis shows a hooded and masked figure placing an explosive device made of small cooking gas canisters outside his apartment building in the quiet southern suburb of Argyroupoli at about 2:30am local time.

“I was asleep when I heard a crack and a bang. I went outside and the entire door was on fire. One of the canisters had not exploded,” Kambrouakis told Skai television.

At about the same time, a similar homemade bomb went off in the central Athens district of Kypseli, outside the home of Doumas.

In a statement to the news website Kathimerini.gr, Doumas said he believed the assailant or assailants targeted him for his “opinions.”

The bomb explosions damaged the facades of buildings in both neighbourhoods.

Police have launched investigations into both incidents, AMNA said.

Source: Aljazeera.