Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has made her first official visit to Cyprus since coming in to office, visiting the Imprisoned Monuments and the Tomb of Makedonitissa last night.
Upon her arrival at the Imprisoned Monuments, she was welcomed by the Minister of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus, Emily Giolitis. This was followed by a hymn, the laying of a wreath and a guided tour of the area.
“Today we are deeply saddened and we honour the heroes who fell for the freedom of Cyprus. The least debt to their memory is to fight with unshakable faith and perseverance for the end of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of Cyprus,” President Sakellaropoulou said on Tuesday.
Sakellaropoulou visited the Imprisoned Monuments and the Tomb of Makedonitissa. Photo: ANA-MPA
The President of the Hellenic Republic added that the fight to free Cyprus of their Turkish occupation is ongoing.
“Let us fight with unshakable faith and perseverance for the end of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of Cyprus,” President Sakellaropoulou said on Tuesday.
Sakellaropoulou said on Monday that “Greece, like Cyprus, looks forward to a constructive change in Turkey’s stance, in compliance with the Charter of the United Nations, with International Law and with the Law of the Sea, as well as with the Security Council’s resolutions on Cyprus.”
“Until then, we will not stop defending – not even momentarily and with all the legal means at our disposal – our sovereignty and our sovereign rights,” she stressed, noting that “towards this goal, the European Union has been, and will remain, the main field of our coordinated political and diplomatic effort.”
“The questioning and violation of the sovereign rights of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, two member states of the European Union, offends and challenges the Union itself,” she added.
The return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece have been the subject of debate for decades. Yesterday, the US Congress stepped in to accelerate discussions, demanding UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to return the priceless historical artefacts to it’s home country.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, the US Congress urge for “earnest” talks for the return of the Parthenon sculptures held by the British Museum to Greece.
“The Marbles have been the source of controversy among western allies for many decades. Greece has long wanted these Parthenon Marbles back,” the letter said, according to reports in the British media on Tuesday.
Signed by 18 members of the United States Congress – both Democrats and Republicans – the letter called on Johnson “to negotiate with the Greek government in earnest on the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.”
The US Congress requested the marbles be returned by 2021, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the modern Greek state’s founding.
The letter adds: “We remain appreciative of your efforts and good will in support of the historic special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and look forward to strengthening that relationship through the accomplishment of matters such as this.”
Turkey and Greece have agreed to resume talks over their contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean after a four year hiatus following weeks of tensions that culminated in a collision between their warships.
The talks, which broke off in 2016 after 60 rounds that made little progress over 14 years, will resume in “the near future” in Istanbul, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.
Turkey also gave no timing for a resumption of the talks but a senior official said they could begin by the end of the month. “There are positive developments,” the official said.
Photo: Ekatherimini
Tensions flared last month after Ankara sent its Oruc Reis seismic survey ship into disputed waters, escorted by gunboats, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling.
A Turkish and a Greek warship collided during the standoff.
Since then, Turkey has recalled the Oruc Reis, saying the move would allow for diplomacy ahead of an EU summit where members Greece, Cyprus and France are pushing for tough action against Turkey. The meeting was postponed on Tuesday to Oct. 1-2.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held a video summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has mediated in the dispute, and EU Council President Charles Michel.
“At the summit, where developments in the eastern Mediterranean were … discussed, it was stated that Turkey and Greece are ready to start exploratory talks,” Turkey’s presidency said in a statement.
Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, said preparations for the resumption of talks were under way and that the two sides were working on the parameters.
Erdogan said he hoped the EU summit would bring new impetus to Turkey-EU ties, adding steps on updating a customs union between the two sides, visa-free travel and migration would help put ties on a positive basis.
In a video address to the U.N. General Assembly, Erdogan also called for a regional conference of Mediterranean coastal states, which he said should include the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, to address maritime disputes.
Turkey has two oil and gas exploration ships in waters off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus, angering authorities in Nicosia. Ankara does not recognise the southern Greek Cypriot government on the divided island, and is the only country to recognise the Turkish Cypriot state to the north.
Turkey has also signed a maritime demarcation deal with Libya which conflicts with a rival deal between Greece and Egypt.
Erdogan said Turkey preferred to solve disagreements “justly and in an appropriate way” through talks, but added that “futile” attempts to exclude Turkey from plans in the eastern Mediterranean could not succeed.
In what was a nail biting 3.5 hours, Team Greece knocked out the remaining three teams on Channel 7’s show Plate of Origin to be crowned this year’s winners.
“We have represented the Australian Greek community and now we’ve just won Plate of Origin! It is mind blowing. It is mind blowing. I’m so grateful, this is beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of,” Dezi tells The Greek Herald.
Dezi and Penny have wowed the judges throughout the entire competition, but not as much as they did tonight with their traditional gemistes, barbeque prawns, tender lamb and galaktoboureko.
In the first round, they went up against Team Vietnam with their gemistes, which were sadly criticised by the judges as being too “salty.”
But Team Greece never gave up. They were given another chance to impress, going up against Team Italy and knocking them out of the competition with their special Greek Ekmek Kataifi recipe.
“Never underestimate a Greek mum. The pressure is on. I feel like the Greek community is watching us!” Dezi exclaimed at the time.
And boy, they definitely did not disappoint.
In the final battle against Team Vietnam, their entrée of barbeque prawns with yiayia’s pita bread received a single word of “BOOM” from judge Matt Preston. Our hopes were high!
A main meal of lamb rack with lemon potatoes and Greek salad was up next. There was drama with their lamb not being rested enough but that didn’t bother the judges who hailed it “perfectly cooked.”
The same was said about their beautiful galaktoboureko with hand made pastry.
Ultimately they scored 28/30 for their entree, 24/30 for their main meal and 24/30 for their dessert.
Lampsa Hellenic Hotels SA have denied alleged negotiations with Arabic or foreign investors, saying Athens’ Hotel Grande Bretagne is not for sale.
Ogdoo.gr reported last week that the sale of the luxury 5-star hotel was in it’s ‘final stages’, being passed on to an Arabic business group in Qatar.
In a statement released to the public, Lampsa Hellenic Hotels SA underlines that the company is “neither in advanced, initial, or any negotiations with Arab or investors of other origins” for the sale of the hotel.
Hotel Grande Bretagne. Photo: Booking.com
The iconic Syntagma Square hotel was closed for four months during Greece’s COVID-19 lockdown wave 1. It recently reopened in July.
The statement adds that the company won’t tolerate misleading or false information to tarnish the reputation of Lamspa SA.
“It has been a point of reference for over a century for Greek and foreigners alike,” said Tasos Homenidis, CEO at Lampsa SA, upon its reopening in July.
The statement additionally states that there has been no thought or plan for the sale of parts or the entire hotel. In fact, the company is “implementing investments, focusing on efforts to return to normalcy, and planning its future growth”.
The luxury 5-star hotel is one of the largest and most expensive hotels in the Greek capital, holding 384 rooms, including two 550 sq. metre Royal Suites, costing up to 32,000 euros per night.
Season two of Arts Centre Melbourne’s Big Night In with John Foreman is set to get a huge injection of star talent on Wednesday, September 30, at 7pm when musical theatre icon, Zoy Frangos, adds his voice to the event.
Zoy Frangos, who is the son of a Greek migrant father and Indigenous-Australian mother, will feature in episode four of the Big Night In, alongside fellow Australian pop icon Christine Anu and her daughter Zipporah Corser Anu.
This is something Zoy tells The Greek Herald is a dream come true.
Zoy Frangos is set to feature in season two of Arts Centre Melbourne’s ‘Big Night In with John Foreman.’ Photo: Arts Centre Melbourne.
“Christine is awesome. She’s a lovely person. So I was very excited when I saw that she was on the same episode as me. It’s nice company to be amongst,” Zoy says.
“I’ve been seeing the Big Night In for a while and I was like, ‘this would be great to be involved in.’ But then you sort of look at the names and you’re like, ‘oh they’ll never get me.’ So it’s really nice to be involved.”
Zoy says that on the night he will firstly speak with John Foreman, the host, about his career highlights, before performing Se by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.
“It’s the song my wife walked down the aisle to,” Zoy says.
Zoy Frangos is performing a song as a tribute to his wife. Photo: Twitter.
“Originally I was going to sing Anthem from Chess, which I was going to sing in Wemba Wemba language, which is my mother’s Aboriginal language, but we couldn’t get the rights.
“So I chose to do the tribute to my wife to win some brownie points!”
Zoy’s excitement about the upcoming event is clear as day. Especially, as it’s one of the first times he’s performed since the coronavirus pandemic shut down theatres around the world.
“It’s nice to be working again. In lockdown, a lot of the time you don’t want to be thinking about theatre because it’s just too devastating. But something like the Big Night In has given me an opportunity to sit down and sing again,” Zoy says.
Something we’re all excited to see! You can watch Zoy’s episode of the Big Night Inhere.
Melbourne’s Fall & Rise Brewing has made the difficult decision to sell the business after less than a year in operation due to the economic impact caused by COVID-19.
Established by Greek-Australian’s, Petros Gyftopoulos and Yiannis Psimoulis, late last year, the sale of Fall & Rise includes recipes, trademark and their database.
While head brewer, Yiannis, is now moving back to Greece to be with his family, Petros told Beer & Brewer they wouldn’t be making this call if there was a guaranteed end in sight to Melbourne’s lockdown period.
Head brewer, Yiannis, is now moving back to Greece to be with his family. Photo: Fall & Rise Brewing Facebook page.
“If there was some light at the end of the tunnel, I think almost certainly, the decision would be different,” Petros said.
“If someone could guarantee that on November 26 Melbourne would move out of lockdown, that would be something for me to hold on to.
“But there is no one who can say that now. We do not know when the vaccine is coming. We don’t know if Melbourne is going to have less than five cases a day to allow us to even move out of a state of lockdown.”
Fall & Rise had been contract brewing at Cockies Beer in Geelong and to date, had released two of their own beers: The Rise – a hoppy Kölsch; and Dorchae – an Irish stout.
Most recently, they even collaborated on an Alliance oatmeal stout with fellow Melbourne brewery Urban Alley.
Fall & Rise had released two of their own beers: The Rise – a hoppy Kölsch; and Dorchae – an Irish stout. They collaborated on an Alliance oatmeal stout with fellow Melbourne brewery Urban Alley. Photo: Fall & Rise Brewing Facebook page.
Everything had been going to plan, Petros said.
They had built brand awareness and established distribution networks with the likes of Blackhearts & Sparrows bottle shops in Melbourne and Canberra and online stores Bucket Boys and Beer Cartel.
In early March, they were ready to take the next step and find their own location to brew in-house. Then COVID hit.
“Breweries are shutting and the economy is struggling and it just isn’t the right time for us to be taking the next step,” Petros said.
“Continuing to contract brew just isn’t the right decision either right now. We are one of the victims of COVID’s financial impact and we just have to move on.”
However, does this really mark the final chapter in Petros and Yiannis’ brewing dream? Petros said it’s too early to tell but they had no regrets.
“When you have a start-up, you see it like your baby and I don’t want to see it die – even if it is in the hands of someone else,” Petros said.
“We have full time jobs, but for nine months we were finishing those at five o’clock and then working late hours on Fall & Rise. On weekends too. But we loved every minute of it.
“I do not regret doing it because the joy and the excitement and satisfaction of seeing our products in the market and people loving them, you can’t compare that feeling.”
The Greek Orthodox Parish of St Nectarios in Burwood is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of much-loved Saint Nectarios with a series of insightful talks held across Sydney.
There will be eight talks in total, four in English and four in Greek, focusing not only on the life of St Nectarios and his legacy in Christianity, but also on some of his previously unpublished writings.
“There are a lot of well-known things that are known about St Nectarios’ life and there are some less known things about his life. We’re going to do a few talks where we try and explore his life in as much detail as we can,” Father George Liangas tells The Greek Herald.
“We’re also going to look at some of his writings. The importance of the legacy of his writings can’t be overestimated… as they firmed the path of the correct Orthodox way of our church.”
The first talk kicks of this Thursday, September 24 at St Ioannis Greek Orthodox Church in Parramatta. Starting at 7pm, Dr John Psarommatis will present a talk in Greek on the life of Saint Nectarios.
From there, there will be a number of other talks held at churches across Sydney, including St Euphemia Church in Bankstown and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kogarah.
This is something Father George says was important as it ensures everyone can get a chance to attend a talk on the important saint.
“Because St Nectarios is so well-loved, holding the talks at different churches gives people in other parts of Sydney the opportunity to participate in them as well,” Father Liangas says.
Due to recent coronavirus restrictions, Father Liangas also stresses that places are limited and by booking only. Bookings may be made at stnectariosburwood.ecwid.com, or call 0427 421 790.
If you are unable to attend, the talks will also be livestreamed on St Nectarios Burwood’s Facebook page.
Program of upcoming talks:
Talk #1: Thursday, September 24, 7pm
An overview of the life of Saint Nectarios. In the Church of St Ioannis, 163-165 George St, Parramatta. Speaker: Dr John Psarommatis. In Greek.
Talk #2: Sunday, October 4, 7pm
Sifting through previously unpublished material about St Nectarios. In the Church of St Nectarios, 26 Railway Pde, Burwood. Speaker: Reverend Fr George Liangas. In English.
Talk #3: Sunday, October 11, 7pm
Saint Nectarios and the contemporary renewal of Orthodox spirituality. In the Church of St Nicholas, 203-207 Livingstone Road, Marrickville. Speaker: Professor of Theology Dr. Vassilios Adrahtas. In Greek.
Talk #4: Sunday, October 18, 7pm
Getting to know St Nectarios through his catechetical letters. In the hall of St Euphemia Church, 6-12 East Terrace, Bankstown. Speaker: A/Prof Socrates Dokos. In English.
Talk #5: Thursday, October 22, 7pm
Getting to know Saint Nectarios in greater depth through eyewitness accounts and his writings. In the Church of Saint Catherine’s, 180 Coward St, Mascot. Speaker: Very Rev Fr. Athanasios Giatsios. In Greek.
Talk #6: Thursday, October 29, 7pm
Getting to know Christ; according to St Nectarios’ Christology. At the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, 16-18 Belgrave St, Kogarah. Speaker: Lecturer at St Andrew’s Theological College Dr Andrew Mellas. In English.
Talk #7: Thursday, November 5, 7pm
Saint Nectarios on diligence, repentance, and sacramental life. In the Church of St Nectarios, 26 Railway Pde, Burwood. Speaker: Senior Lecturer at Notra Dame School of Law Nicholas Augoustinos. In Greek.
Talk #8: Sunday, November 15, 7pm
Getting to know ourselves; according to St Nectarios. In the Church of St Nectarios, 26 Railway Pde, Burwood. Speaker: Chanter Mr Andrew Psarommatis. In English.
It was International Day of Peace yesterday and to mark the occasion, Year 9 students from the Greek Community of Melbourne’s School of Language and Culture released the cutest projects ever!
Based on the theme of peace and war, and with the help of philologist Mrs Nikezi, the students worked on the project virtually throughout all of term three.
They studied texts, watched videos, designed original posters and even analysed Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ painting to try and discern the emotions it conveyed.
From there, they organised a talk show about war games and did group activities on how to solve peacefully a difference or misunderstanding.
The end result is amazing and can be seen in some examples below:
Ειρήνη & Πόλεμος by Αφίσα-Ευτυχία.
Ειρήνη και Πόλεμος by Μανώλης.
By Benjamin.
“Most of us have not known war, but we have certainly heard horrible stories about it from our grandparents, through books and documentaries. It is a time of uncertainty, hunger and misery, a time of decline in all areas, a time when people are mentally injured and children lose their innocence,” Mrs Nikezi said at the conclusion of the project.
“Peace on the other hand is not just a situation in which there are no hostilities and bombings between peoples. It’s more than that. It is peace – inner peace – your right to work, to create, to coexist with other people and to live in every moment.
“What is certain is that peace is not restored once and for all, and that is why people must strive to maintain it every day and in every way.
“One conclusion we have reached is: Peace is not a physical state. It is built everywhere and every day.”
The Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley, accompanied by her husband, Dennis Wilson, visited the headquarters of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia in Sydney on Monday, September 21st.
The couple was welcomed by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, who thanked Mrs Beazley for responding to the invitation he had given her during his recent visit to the Government House.
The NSW Governor was given a tour of the Holy Cathedral of The Annunciation of Our Lady in Redfern, Sydney.
Accompanied by His Eminence, Mrs Beazley and her husband visited the Holy Cathedral of The Annunciation of Our Lady, where they lit a candle while they were guided and informed extensively about the history of the Cathedral by His Eminence Archimandrite, Father Christoforos Krikelis.
Afterwards, issues of common interest were discussed in the office of the Archbishop, in a friendly and cordial atmosphere.
The NSW Governor and her husband had a small meeting after the tour.
During the meeting, the plans for the renovation of the Archdiocese were also presented to the NSW Governor, by the architect who has undertaken the implementation of the project.
The visit of Mrs Beazley and Mr Wilson to the Holy Archdiocese ended with a dinner given in their honor by His Eminence.
