The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement on Saturday saying it has “sovereign rights” over the Greek island of Kastellorizo and will “never compromise on this.”
The statement from Ankara comes ahead of the EU Summit next week, where EU leaders will discuss sanctions on Turkey due to its provocative actions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Calling Greece “the spoiled child of Europe,” Ankara also asked its neighbor to “engage in unconditional dialogue, sooner rather than later.”
This statement came in the face of Ankara announcing on Friday that a firing exercise would take place on December 9 and 10 in the sea area between the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo.
St. Basil’s Training is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that trains not only staff of St. Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT but also international students.
St. Basil’s RTO is for students who choose to explore their potential, offering more than simply an education, but the training to truly thrive.
St Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT decades of experience in hospitality, aged care, management, and leadership provides students with practical real-life experience and insights.
With world-class college facilities and supportive and knowledgeable teachers, the students of St Basil’s can also be a valuable part of a caring community and can make friends for life.
Some of the courses offered by St. Basil’s RTO include:
SIT50416 – Diploma of Hospitality Management
CHC43015 – Certificate IV in Ageing Support
BSB51918 – Diploma of Leadership and Management
BSB40315 – Certificate IV in Customer Engagement
English Language Courses
The Graduation Ceremony for the RTO graduating students of 2020 took place on 15th October. The Chairman of St. Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT, Mr James Jordan attended this prestigious event.
Of the 44 graduating students, 24 students completed the Diploma of Leadership and Management and 20 students completed the Certificate IV in Ageing Support.
These courses are continuing with students in attendance from all sites of St. Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT.
St. Basil’s RTO is open to anyone who wants to study any of the courses that are offered. Find out more on the St. Basil’s Training website.
Three inner west councillors have written to ICAC asking it to investigate the circumstances surrounding the council CEO’s departure.
Independent John Stamolis, Liberal Julie Passas and Green councillors Marghanita Da Cruz have all signed a letter demanding ICAC investigate a string of complaints about the council and its former CEO Michael Deegan.
It comes a week after they made the same request to Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock and the Office of Local Government.
Cr John Stamolis. Picture: Adam Yip/The Daily Telegraph
A key part of their concerns is the terms of Mr Deegan’s departure in October, and whether he received any pay-out when his contract was terminated.
Mr Deegan’s role as Inner West Council’s CEO first made headlines in June 2019 after revelations he had been found to have engaged in misconduct while working for the South Australian Government.
Some of the findings made by the South Australian Ombudsman related to him signing off on FOI requests into his own spending and using taxpayer dollars to fund extravagant booze-fuelled lunches.
Cr Da Cruz. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
The council was reportedly never made aware of those allegations before hiring him, according to numerous sources, and sparked 12 months of internal infighting over what to do.
That came to a head in September when Mr Deegan sent a group email to council’s 1400 staff to say he was seeking help from the United Services Union to negotiate his contract termination.
A month later Inner West Council announced Mr Deegan would be leaving and they had begun a search for a replacement.
A typical house in Sydney is now worth over $1m again, after the property market saw a second consecutive month of price growth in November.
CoreLogic’s November Home Value Index showed Sydney house values have grown 0.9 cent in the past month to $1,000,170.
This was an increase of $6243 from the previous month as values are 1.2 per cent higher than three months ago.
CoreLogic head of residential research Eliza Owen said the market was bouncing back after experiencing just over a two per cent decline throughout the pandemic, and was spurred on by growing consumer confidence, fiscal policy and low interest rates.
“The falls we’ve seen are far from the 10 per cent declines many predicted at the start of the pandemic,” she said to realestate.com.au.
“Sellers are benefiting from auction clearance rates growing, along with a fall in days on market and vendor discounts,” she said.
The apartment market on the other hand is continuing to suffer with values declining 0.7 per cent to $728,168 in November. This made Sydney units the only type of dwelling in any capital city or regional area to record negative growth.
Apartments have lost around $40,000 in value since March, but are only 0.1 per cent down from the start of 2020.
Ray White NSW CEO Andrew McCulloch, speaking to realestate.com.au, said the market is now in a stronger position than what it was at the start of 2020.
“There are a lot more people looking to buy at the moment and confidence is really high at the moment,” he said.
Melomakarona are a classic Greek traditional delicacy, filled with flavours of cinnamon, orange and walnut.
They are a popular treat throughout the year but especially during Christmas their sweet aroma fills the house with an intensely sweet smell.
Ingredients
For the syrup:
500 g water
800 g granulated sugar
150 g honey
3 stick(s) cinnamon
3 cloves
1 orange, cut in half
For the biscuits:
First mixture
400 g orange juice
400 g seed oil
180 g olive oil
50 g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon(s) cloves
2-3 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon(s) nutmeg
1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
Orange zest of 2 oranges
Second mixture
1 kilo all-purpose flour
200 g semolina, fine
For the garnish:
100g crushed walnuts
Cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line two baking trays with parchment paper
Boil all of the syrup ingredients apart from honey. When it has melted, remove from the heat, add honey and mix until combined.
Let the syrup cool for 3-4 hours or even overnight so that it cool by the time the cookies are ready
To make the biscuits, you need to prepare two separate mixture
For the first mixture, add all of the first mixture ingredients into a large bowl and mix using either an electric or hand whisk
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and semolina
Combine the first and second mixture together in a large bowl and very gently mix by hand for a short time to avoid the mixture splitting or curdling
Shape the batter into oval shapes and place onto the baking tray
Bake the biscuits for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
When the melomakarona comes out of the oven, begin soaking the hot biscuits in the cold syrup. This is best done by placing an individual biscuit onto a slotted spoon and dip into the syrup for about 10 seconds
Remove the cookies using the slotted spoon and place onto a wire rack to drain
Once drained, you can top the biscuits with crush walnuts and a sprinkle cinnamon and they are ready to be served!
The decision on Friday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s Culture Committee condemning Turkey’s move to convert Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum into a mosque was hailed by the Greek delegation head, Dora Bakoyannis, as Europe’s response to Turkey’s “systematic violations of democratic principles and values.”
In a Facebook post, Bakoyannis said both Greek and Cypriot delegations have been raising awareness and mobilizing members of the Parliamentary Assembly for months.
“Turkey’s unilateral decision was condemned as unacceptable and incomprehensible, as a divisive move of discrimination contrary to all the principles of the Council,” she said.
Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century as a Greek Orthodox Christian cathedral and was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 1453. The Turkish government turned it into a museum in 1934.
On December 6th 2008, 15-year-old student Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by a police officer in Exarchia, Greece. The murder triggered a wave of riots across the nation and eventually the incident took on international proportions and events of solidarity and support were organized in many major cities around the world.
On the evening of December 6th, at around 9pm, Grigoropoulos and his friends were sitting in a corner in Exarchia, where they exchanged swear words with two policemen in a patrol car that was passing by.
Later, Epaminondas Korkoneas and Vasilis Saraliotis returned to the scene on foot. Here, the verbal confrontation continued, when suddenly, Alexandros Grigopoulos was fatally shot by officer Epaminondas Korkoneas, a member of the special guard unit of the Greek police.
The two policemen returned to their station and informed their service of the incident, however they claimed that the shooting was in response to a renewed attack by the youths. Eye witnesses, however, invalidated this claim, reporting that the children did not ambush the officers.
(Protests in Athens)
Immediately following the shooting, young Grigorpoulos was transported to the nearby Evangelismos Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Within just an hour of the shooting, the news began to spread like wildfire. Angry demonstrators took to the streets of Exarchia and started burning trash containers, cars, bus stops and anything else they could. Soon more fires broke out all over Athens as more and more people clashed with the riot police. Overnight, similar demonstrations started to rise in many other Greek cities, and eventually, the riots took over the country.
The next day, Karolos Papoulias, the President of the Republic released a telegram of condolences to the student’s family. In this, he described the death as a “trauma to the rule of law” and expressed his determination and confidence to punish those responsible.
The large protest marches continued from December 7 – 10, as thousands of people came out to demonstrate their anger and disappointment in the Federal policing system. According to EVEA estimates, the damage caused in Athens alone exceeded 50 million euros.
The trial for the case of murder of Alexandros Grigorpoulos was set for December 15, 2009, and in the meantime, the defendents were held in custody, as officer Kornoeas was to be tried for manslaughter, and officer Saraliotis was to be tried for conspiracy to commit a crime. The mixed jury in Amfissa decided that Korkoneas was guilty of premeditated murder and the policeman received a life sentence. Saraliotis received ten years for accessory to murder.
Every year, on December 6th, the people of Athens mourn and remember the innocent life that was lost.
Following the recent internal conflict within the Macquarie University Greek Studies Foundation, The Greek Herald spoke exclusively with the Head of Modern Greek Studies at the university, Dr Patricia Koromvokis.
Dr Patricia Koromvokis was able to provide a clear explanation of the changes to the Greek Studies Program in 2020, along with how these changes may affect future enrolment for next year.
How has Macquarie University’s Greek Studies Program progressed coming into the end of 2020? With reference to enrolment numbers (compared to previous years etc) and active engagement in the Modern Greek courses.
The enrolments of 2020 reflect the results of the new curriculum architecture, which was implemented for the first time in 2020. The number of enrolments in Modern Greek Studies Program of Macquarie University was very good across all language and cultural units. In fact, enrolments increased in language units in both semesters. One of the cultural units, convened by Modern Greek Studies Program in conjunction with the Ancient History Department, had a slight decrease in number due to the change of mode offering in the new curriculum of 2020.
The rapid transmission into remote learning (online delivery) did not have a negative impact in the engagement of language learning, as Macquarie University has been offering online learning across all courses years now. I have to mention that I feel every proud of all the students’ excellent performance and achievements especially under these unique and challenging conditions.
What changes have been made due to the financial difficulties that the Australian universities are facing due to pandemic?
Given the current pressures on university’s finances and operations, Macquarie University has made difficult and challenging decisions concerning the viability of some courses aiming to mitigate the impact on staff and students. The Faculty of Arts is in a good position in order to deliver a more sustainable suite of offerings and contributing to the financial remediation the University needs to undertake. Regarding Modern Greek Studies Program, some courses have been rested only for 2021. More specifically, for 2021 study options are:
– For Macquarie students: Minor in Modern Greek and elective units
– Students of other Australian universities: cross-institutional study (elective or minor)
– Everyone else (+18 years old): Non-award
All courses are offered on-campus in our new language labs, fully online and blended tutorials (no difference in the content between the cohorts) with best available resources, online lectures by guest lecturers from Greece and Australia and peer-led extracurricular activities aiming at an effective and engaging language learning experience.
Do you expect the enrolments in the Modern Greek Studies Program will be affected by these aforementioned changes in 2021?
It is unavoidable that enrolments, especially in the Humanities, will be affected by these changes. However, taking into consideration the current difficult financial situation which has drastically affected all languages and departments in the Humanities across all Universities in Australia (staff and course/ program cuts), I am still confident that the transformation that Macquarie University needed to undertake in different areas, helps to secure the future sustainability of the Modern Greek Studies Program. The most vital thing right now is to continue offering Modern Greek courses at tertiary level!
Are we as a community promoting Greek enough?
I strongly believe that the Greek community has always promoted the Greek language in different ways. What I would suggest is, that more promotion should be done in the primary and secondary education sectors, which will enhance Greek language learning at tertiary level. This can be succeeded only by a fruitful collaboration between teachers and academics. Taking the opportunity of this question, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the MUGA (Macquarie University Greek Association) committee, and especially to the President, Sam Giovas and the Vice-President, Zoe Re, who have done a remarkable job under unique conditions. Working behind the scenes takes a lot of effort –which is sometimes not obvious to the community.
What is so fascinating is how small businesses become part of lives with the passing of time? Whether it is our familiarity or trust with them, we develop such a strong connection with them; although the decades may pass, and people’s tastes may change too, such successful small businesses are not affected- in fact, they just continue to develop and grow. Miloway Earlwood Wines, run by the Ipermachou family, is one such business; for locals it seems to have always been there but its strong reputation for its diverse range of high-quality Greek and Cypriot products and great service has broadened their customer base nationwide.
Although the Ipermachou family has been running Miloway Earlwood Wines for forty, the family story goes back to Dierona, Cyprus, where Harry (Ipermachou) was one of twelve siblings and he wrapped up a short-sleeve shirt and shorts, and set off for Limassol to look for work… at the age of eight years old!
With his brother, Panayioti, already in Sydney, Harry joined him in 1968 and his first job was at British Motor Company, or as it was known by so many migrants, Morris, where he had to fit the carpet in the cars on the process line. Having married Loula, also from Dierona, Cyprus, and finding work at Cinzano (Beverages), they initially settled in Mascot. Over the next eight years, Harry became leading hand, union delegate and then promoted to production foreman and then Penfold Wines approached and invited him to work for them.
Photo: Supplied
Being a regular customer of Antoniou Wines, Earlwood, its owner Andreas Antoniou informed Harry of his intentions of selling the business; having dreamt to run his business, Harry grabbed this opportunity in 1980. Asked what the difference between being an employee and running his own business, Harry humorously states, ‘When you have your own business, there is no watch or clock to look at the time because you do not go home until you finish what you start. I remember one time, in those early years, where I unloaded a truck of all these products on my own- I did not go home until it was done.
‘Secondly, there are so many sacrifices, over a long period of time, that are made for a business to grow. People may admire a successful business but they do not realise the enormous efforts and sacrifices that were made to achieve that success.’
Photo: Supplied
Highly motivated by their great love for their growing family and yearning for what their homeland could offer, Harry and Loula quickly expanded the delicatessen side of business, diversifying range of products. Harry recalls the challenges of importing Cypriot and Greek products, ‘In the 1980s, we were unknown and Cypriot and Greek companies were reluctant to deal with us. They would often say, “Australia? Why would I want to export to Australia?” and I would be back-and-forth from Greece and Cyprus to Australia, to make proposals, try their products, discuss how I wanted things adone and then make a decision. It was a very long process, that took many, many years to build that relationship between Greek and Cypriot companies and Miloway.
‘Nowadays, Cypriot and Greek companies seek us out (Harry laughs); Miloway has a strong network across Australia for their products to be promoted and distributed. In 2015, Miloway was recognised by the Greek Government for its wide variety of imported Greek products.’
Harry and Loula’s children. Kostas and Maria, grew up in the family business; despite having their own careers, they officially joined business in the 1990s.
Photo: Supplied
After all these decades and success, Harry’s love for the business has not waned at all; as he explains to Loula. ‘Our business is like our third child; we have spent my time here than our house,’ and this love is reinforced by Harry’s daily routine, ‘Every morning, I come to Miloway and I heat up the water for my coffee and light up the vigil lamp (kandili). After my coffee, I will do- what I call- my tour of the shop and I look at all the shelves and products, and I correct anything that is out of place.
We may be closed on Sundays but I still come in and check over the business- and have my coffee. If I do not do this, then there is something missing in my day (laughs).’
But what bring Harry great joy is- what he calls- the lure of Miloway’s front steps, ‘So many people come up our stairs and it is only after they are in our store for some time that they make a decision on what they want to buy. This is very special because it shows our store draws customers
Imagine this. You are learning Spanish or Chinese for the very first time and at your first lesson you are shown a beautiful storybook, which the teacher reads in Spanish and then a song.
The lesson is a lot of fun but when you leave the class and your mum asks you what have you learnt? You do not remember a thing.
Welcome to the world of most children beginning Greek in Kindergarten.
Even an adult would be lost.
So let’s rewind and maybe the first day was filled with a short story reading, a simple song or some background music and lots of playing games using words.
Maybe you can learn to pick out your name in Greek from a table with many names on it. Maybe you can pick out your friends’ names too!
Maybe the teacher has given you some stickers with words and a picture on them so you can label your pencil case, your book and your pencil. Maybe you can play a game with your friends and see who can copy the teacher’s voice and say these things in Greek.
These are tags. Maybe you have a picture of mum and dad and your sisters and brothers and your favourite pet or animal. All have a tag or word attached.
Sometimes, Kindergarten pre-school children cannot write at all. They are still learning to draw a straight line. How can they write their name in Greek when they haven’t even mastered a straight line or a circle yet.
Isn’t it more important they learn to recognise whole words that are relevant to them first?
So, reading often comes before writing and speaking sometimes comes before reading for native speakers. For our children it may come as they see the word for the first time. Especially for children of mixed marriages.
This is where reading to your children in as many languages as possible comes in.
The more books you read to your children the better. More about books later!
