The first mosque in the Greek capital of Athens opened its doors to Muslim worshipers on Monday, local media reported.
Inaugural prayers were held with social distancing measures in place, led by the mosque’s first imam is Zaki Mohammed, 49, a Greek citizen of Moroccan origin, Ekathimerini reports.
“A long effort by successive governments since 2006, when Law 3512 was passed, has been completed. Greece sends a clear message inside and outside the country, of democracy, religious freedom and respect,” said General Secretary of Religions Giorgos Kalantzis.
Photo: anews
The decision to build a mosque in Athens was first made in 2006, with a budget of €887,000 ($1.04 million), yet encountered various bureaucratic hurdles and protests by Greek citizens.
The opening signified an end to the country’s long record as the only European Union capital to lack a mosque.
Even as hopes of reaching survivors began to fade, rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir pulled a young girl out alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building on Tuesday, four days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece.
Wrapped in a thermal blanket, the girl taken into an ambulance on a stretcher to the sounds of applause and chants from rescue workers and onlookers.
Health Media Fahrettin Koca identified her as 3-year-old Ayda Gezgin on Twitter and shared a video of her inside the ambulance. The child had been trapped inside the rubble for 91 hours since Friday’s quake struck in the Aegean Sea and was the 107th person to have been pulled out of collapse buildings alive.
The girl, Ayda Gezgin, was seen being taken into an ambulance on Tuesday, wrapped in a thermal blanket, amid the sound of cheers and applause from rescue workers. (AFAD via AP)
After she was pulled from the rubble, little Ayda called out for her mother, in video of the rescue broadcast on television.
But Ayda’s mother did not survive. Her body was found amid the wreckage hours later. Her brother and father were not inside the building at the time of the quake.
Her rescue came a day after a 3-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl were also pulled out alive from collapsed buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city.
The girl was taken into an ambulance, wrapped in a thermal blanket, amid the sounds of cheers and applause from rescue workers. (Turkish Gendarmerie via AP)
The vast majority of the deaths and some 1,000 injuries occurred in Izmir, Turkey. Two teenagers also died and 19 people were injured on the Greek island of Samos, near the quake’s epicenter in the Aegean Sea.
The quake also triggered a small tsunami that hit Samos and the Seferihisar district of Izmir province, where one elderly woman drowned. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.
Tents set up for homeless people are placed on a basketball court in Izmir, Turkey, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Officials said 147 quake survivors were still hospitalized, and three of them were in serious condition.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “to offer my condolences for the tragic loss of life from the earthquake that struck both our countries.”
The Greek leader added, “Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to stand together.”
The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has released its Rich Listfor 2020 and among the 200 wealthiest people are eight Greek Australians from across the country.
By the looks of things, it was a very good year to invest in property and natural resources, despite the coronavirus pandemic, as many of the chosen Greek Australians have a background in these industries.
Here’s the full list in chronological order:
Nick Politis – Ranked 79, $1.31 billion (retail and property)
Proud Kytherian, Nick Politis AM, is an prominent businessman and Chairman of Sydney-based NRL team, Sydney Roosters.
Nick Politis ranked 79th in the AFR’s Rich List for 2020.
Politis ran and expanded WFM Motors Pty Ltd from March 1974, eventually transforming it into “City Ford,” one of the largest Ford dealerships in Australia.
The majority of Politis’ wealth is derived from his 38 privately owned car dealerships and a major holding in ASX-listed auto retailer, A.P Eagers.
This year, his wealth jumped up by 6.7 percent from last year’s estimate of $1.23 billion.
Con Makris and family – Ranked 82, $1.25 billion (property)
Con Makris arrived in Adelaide from Greece as a teenager in 1964 and built a vast property development and shopping centre empire that began with a barbecued chicken shop.
Con Makris arrived in Adelaide from Greece as a teenager in 1964.
Makris stepped back from the day-to-day operations of the Makris Group several years ago and put in place an independent advisory board to guide expansion, which has been focused on Queensland.
He put two high-profile Adelaide retail assets on the market in July – Rundle Mall’s City Cross shopping centre and the North Adelaide Village neighbourhood shopping complex worth a combined $200 million.
According to the AFR, Makris’ wealth dropped 5 percent compared to last year, which was $1.32 billion.
Nicholas Paspaley and family – Ranked 83, $1.25 billion (resources, property)
The pearling company, Paspaley, was founded by the late Nicholas Paspaley snr, who fled the Greek island of Kastellorizo in World War I and settled on the Western Australian coast.
Working in Port Hedland and Broome, he purchased his own pearl lugger by the age of 21. His three children – Nicholas Paspaley jnr; Roslynne Bracher and Marilynne Paspaley – now own the company.
Nicholas Paspaley and his family have recorded a huge 12 percent jump in wealth from last year.
Interestingly, pearls now account for less than half the revenue in the broader Paspaley Group, which has interests in livestock, a fleet of planes and property.
This year, Nicholas Paspaley and his family have recorded a huge 12 percent jump in wealth from $1.12 billion last year.
Spiros Alysandratos – Ranked 124, $798 million (travel, property)
Spiros Alysandratos founded Consolidated Travel in 1967 after emigrating to Melbourne from the Greek isle of Kefalonia.
Consolidated Travel is one of 1500 or so private companies exempted from having to lodge financial accounts. But when your business is selling airline ticketing technology to travel agents, in 2020 there is nowhere to hide.
Spiros Alysandratos founded Consolidated Travel in 1967.
IBISWorld estimates Consolidated Travel’s revenue fell 16 percent to $1.25 billion in 2019-20.
Alysandratos is bearish on the travel sector, declining to participate in a capital raising for travel company Helloworld Travel and selling shares, which saw his stake fall to 13.76 percent between May and July.
According to the AFR, Alysandratos’ wealth dropped 14.3 percent this year from $931 million.
Harry Stamoulis and family – Ranked 126, $793 million (manufacturing)
The Stamoulis Property Group came into its own when the late Spiros Stamoulis sold his Gold Medal soft-drink brand to Cadbury-Schweppes in 2004.
The company is now overseen by his son Harry, with major acquisitions including the $91 million Woolworths distribution facility in the Melbourne suburb of Mulgrave and the $125 million One Collins Street tower in the CBD.
The Stamoulis Property Group is overseen by Harry Stamoulis.
Harry’s sister Melina oversees the family-owned Nafsika Stamoulis Hellenic Museum.
A passionate soccer fan, having served as a director of Melbourne Victory, Harry remains involved in a venture to bring an A-League team to Tasmania.
Theo Karedis – Ranked 131, $775 million (retail, property)
The website of Theo Karedis’ Arkadia Property Services still carries its pre-pandemic self-assessment of the worth of its 25 properties: $900 million.
Given half of them are malls or large-format neighbourhood centres, it remains to be seen how much value has been permanently chopped off by e-commerce.
Theo Karedis founded Arkadia Property Services.
Arkadia was founded by Karedis after the $175 million sale of his Theo’s Liquor bottle shops to Coles in 2002, following a bidding war with Woolworths.
Karedis migrated from the Greek island of Kythera, opening a deli in Sydney’s Neutral Bay in 1955. He applied for his first in-store liquor licence in 1979.
Karedis recorded an estimated 4.9 percent drop in his wealth from last year, which was $815 million.
George Koukis – Ranked 146, $715 million (software)
George Koukis migrated from Greece in 1971 with $140 to his name.
He got a job as a Qantas “office boy” in 1973, and his break came when he volunteered to computerise the airline’s managed accounting system.
George Koukis migrated from Greece in 1971.
In 1993, he paid $948,000 for a small Swiss banking software maker, renamed it Temenos, and built it up with the help of venture capital to a 2001 float at a $2.1 billion valuation.
Koukis has gradually sold off his holding to below 3 percent. He left the board in April.
His eponymous aviation software business claims more than 100 installations worldwide.
Kerry Harmanis – Ranked 154, $690 million (resources)
Kerry Harmanis wasted little time in his return to public life since selling Jubilee Mines to resources giant Xstrata for $500 million in 2007.
Kerry Harmanis sold Jubilee Mines to resources giant Xstrata for $500 million in 2007. Photo: Iain Gillespie / The West Australian.
The long-time investor in gold explorer, Talisman Mining, became its chairman in July. By September, a new CEO was in the chair and corporate costs cut. Talisman shares have been flat over the past year despite a roaring gold sector.
It’s a different story for Harmanis’ investment in Capricorn Metals, which is developing a gold project in WA. Its shares have doubled this year.
Harmanis, a meditation devotee, set up Mindful Meditation Australia which sells workshops to businesses and schools.
November 3, 1898, was a joyous day for all Cretans as the last Turkish soldiers left Crete after 229 long years of occupation. The islanders finally had their independence. To mark this important day, we take a look into the history of the Turkish invasion of Crete.
Since the Venetian rule, Crete was always under threat of invasion from Turkey due to its geographic position. The island was a threat to Ottoman control across the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.
The Ottoman Turks first attacked the Cretan village of Chania in 1645, marking the beginning of a two decade long siege. By 1669, the Ottoman Empire had complete control and rule of the Cretan people.
An artistic depiction of the Greco-Turkish war, showcasing the Cretans gaining their independence.
After the attacks, many Cretans fled the island to escape persecution of the Ottoman rule, while others became prisoners. At the same time, there was a large influx of Turkish settlers residing in Crete, overtaking the Greek population.
The Cretans suffered with higher taxes, seized properties and farmers became serfs. These slave-like conditions led to uprisings against the Turkish rule.
In 1770, Daskalogiannis led the first major rebellion, which was initially successful but later knocked back by Turkish forces. There were several other rebellion attempts, which were also unsuccessful.
In 1821, Greece achieved its freedom with the Greek War of Independence, which Crete also took part in. The Greek state was later established in 1832, however, Crete was not included as they were still under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
As years went on, the Cretans took it upon themselves, with the aid of Greek volunteers and reinforcements, to revolt against the Ottoman Empire once again. This event later became known as the Great Cretan Revolution.
Beginning in 1866, the island achieved several victories and received significant autonomy, but Ottoman violations of the autonomy led to the Greco-Turkish War in 1897.
The Greco-Turkish War, also known as the ’30 day war’ or ‘the Black ‘97,’ was extremely significant. It was the first war in which Greece took part in after gaining its independence and was also the first war in which the Ottoman’s military personnel was put to the test. Unfortunately, the Ottomans were still victorious.
Illustration of units of the International Squadron arriving at Souda Bay, Crete, on 21 December 1898.
However, although the Ottomans did win the war, they were unable to retain control of Crete. The Great Powers (Britain, France, Italy and Russia) declared the autonomy and independence of Crete and ordered all Ottoman forces to leave the island.
The Ottomans stalled. The Great Powers’ patience finally wore out on 4 October 1898, when they demanded that all Ottoman forces leave Crete by 19 October. The Ottomans finally began to withdraw their forces from the island on 23 October. By November 3, all Ottoman troops had left.
Prince George of Greece was appointed as the High Commissioner of Crete.
Greek Australian, John Pandazopoulos, will serve as the Chairperson of Parks Victoria for the next four years, following his appointment by the Victorian Government.
He joins Ms Lisa Marty as deputy Chairperson, as well as new board members Dr Anthony Boxshall, Dr Doris Paton and Ms Vijaya Vaidyanath.
Victoria’s Minister for Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio, said Mr Pandazopoulos and the other board members will play a significant role in managing 4.1 million hectares of parks, reserves and waterways for conservation, recreation and cultural heritage purposes.
Greek Australian, John Pandazopoulos, will serve as the Chairperson of Parks Victoria.
“These new board members bring a great range of knowledge and experience to Parks Victoria in a variety of fields, including cultural heritage, financial management, forestry and natural resource management,” D’Ambrosio said in a statement.
Mr Pandazopoulos was a current board member at the time of his appointment.
During his time on the board, he served on committees focusing on planning, projects and asset management and Aboriginal engagement.
Mr Pandazopoulos also has experience in public policy, advocacy, governance, audit and risk, compliance and reporting requirements and will bring extensive involvement in community consultation and representation.
In a statement on Facebook, Mr Pandazopoulos said he was “very honoured” to begin his tenure with Parks Victoria.
“We add $2.3 billion to economic activity in Victoria, whilst managing a $250 million budget and $5.5 billion in assets,” he wrote.
“I look forward to working with the new Board and thank outgoing Board members for their service.”
Several people have been killed in a terror attack in central Vienna and at least one gunman remains on the run, Austria’s Interior Minister has told a news conference.
At least two people have been killed and several injured during an attack in the Austrian capital on Monday night.
Among the two confirmed dead was one of the attackers, who was shot dead by police.
Police cars block a street near Schwedenplatz in Vienna. Photo: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger.
Austria’s Interior Minister, Karl Nehammer, told ORF a manhunt was underway for the “heavily armed and dangerous” attackers.
“We have brought several special forces units together that are now searching for the presumed terrorists,” he said.
“I am, therefore, not limiting it to an area of Vienna because these are mobile perpetrators.”
In response, Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has sent a message of solidarity to people in Vienna on Twitter this morning, adding “Europe stands united against terror.”
Shocked by the horrific attacks in #Vienna. I have conveyed to @sebastiankurz our full solidarity. Our thoughts are with the people in Vienna and the authorities dealing with the situation. Our hearts, with the victims and their loved ones.
“Shocked by the horrific attacks in #Vienna. I have conveyed to Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, our full solidarity,” Mitsotakis wrote.
“Our thoughts are with the people in Vienna and the authorities dealing with the situation. Our hearts, with the victims and their loved ones.”
Attack happened as people enjoyed last night out before lockdown:
Police said offenders armed with rifles had fired shots from six areas near the Seitenstettengasse synagogue about 8.00pm Monday local time.
Vienna Mayor, Michael Ludwig, said 15 people had been hospitalised, seven of which were suffering serious injuries.
Police said an officer was among the injured.
Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, added on Twitter that the Army would protect sites in the capital so police could focus on anti-terror operations.
Still active: Stay at home! If you're on the Streets, take shelter! Keep away from public places, don't use public Transportation! #0211w
“We are currently experiencing difficult hours in our republic,” Mr Kurz wrote on Twitter.
“I would like to thank all the emergency forces who are risking their lives for our safety, especially today. Our police will take decisive action against the perpetrators of this repulsive terrorist attack.”
Vienna police have confirmed that their operation in the centre of the city was ongoing and they urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport.
Police also warned locals not to share videos or photos of the ongoing police operation, to avoid endangering officers.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has criticised Turkey’s unilateral actions while describing Greece as “a pillar of stability in the region,” in a letter to his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias seen by Greek media outlet, Ekathimerini.
In his letter, which is a response to a recent letter sent by the Greek foreign minister, Pompeo reiterates American objections to Turkey’s ongoing energy exploration in areas where Greece reserves the right to extend its territorial waters from 6 to 12 nautical miles.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, met his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, last month.
“These unilateral actions only serve to raise tensions in the region,” Pompeo says.
“Coercion, threats, intimidation and military activity will not resolve tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he says.
Welcoming Greece’s commitment to resolving bilateral differences through dialogue and in accordance with international law, Pompeo also commends Athens for taking all necessary steps “to avoid an accident or other event at sea that could lead to a conflict between NATO allies.”
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has criticised Turkey’s unilateral actions in a latter to Greece’s Foreign Minister.
Pompeo emphasises that the US and Greece share a vision of the Eastern Mediterranean “as a peaceful and prosperous region characterised by cooperation and respect for international law.”
“We have urged and will continue to urge our NATO ally Turkey to end its calculated provocations and immediately begin exploratory talks with Greece,” he concludes.
When firefighter Muammer Celik reached a 3-year-old girl trapped for three days under the rubble of a deadly earthquake in a Turkish coastal city, his heart sank. She was lying motionless, covered in dust, and he asked a colleague for a body bag.
But as Celik extended his arm to wipe her face, the child opened her eyes and grabbed hold of his thumb.
“That’s where we saw a miracle,” Celik of the Istanbul fire department’s search-and-rescue team told The Associated Press, recounting Monday’s operation 65 hours after the quake hit, killing at least 94 people in Turkey and Greece.
It was the second dramatic rescue on Monday after a 14-year-old was also pulled out alive. Onlookers applauded with joy and wept with relief at both scenes in the Turkish city of Izmir, where the vast majority of the deaths and nearly 1,000 injuries have occurred.
In this photo provided by the Turkish government’s Search and Rescue agency, AFAD, rescue workers carry to an ambulance 14-year-old Idil Sirin who had been extricated from a collapsed building early on Monday, November 2, 2020. Photo: AFAD via AP.
Two teenagers also died and 19 people were injured on the Greek island of Samos, near the quake’s epicenter in the Aegean Sea.
The US Geological Survey rated the quake 7.0, though other agencies recorded it as less severe. Many buildings were completely reduced to rubble or saw several floors pancake in on themselves in Turkey and Greece.
Celik, whose team was among several who traveled to Izmir, said he found Elif Perincek lying on her back between her bed and a closet in a space that was just big enough for her.
“At first I was very upset,” he said. “Then I stretched out my hand to clean her face and she grabbed my thumb… I froze because right before that moment, I had asked my team for a blanket and a body bag.”
3-year-old girl, Elif Perincek, rests in her hospital bed after she was rescued from the rubble of a building. Photo: Turkish Health Ministry via AP.
His voice breaking with emotion, he added: “This is a firefighter’s joy.”
The child spent nearly three full days in the wreckage of her apartment and became the 106th person to be pulled alive from the rubble. Her mother and two sisters — 10-year-old twins — were rescued two days earlier. Her 6-year-old brother did not survive.
Health Minister, Fahrettin Koca, tweeted that both Elif and 14-year-old Idil Sirin were doing well.
Elsewhere in Izmir, rescue workers scrambled to find more survivors used listening devices to detect any signs of life.
“Can anyone hear me?” a team leader shouted, asking possible survivors to bang against surfaces three times if they could.
Members of rescue services search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey. Photo: AP Photo/Darko Bandic.
Officials said 147 quake survivors were still hospitalised, and three of them were in serious condition.
The quake also triggered a small tsunami that hit Samos and the Seferihisar district of Izmir province, where one elderly woman drowned. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.
Turkey sits on top of fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful quakes killed some 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Earthquakes are frequent in Greece as well.
Greece will impose a two-week lockdown in the regions of Thessaloniki and Serres in the north to contain a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, said on Monday.
“The Prime Minister spoke on the phone with Health Minister, Vassilis Kikilias, and decided to impose a local lockdown in the regions of Thessaloniki and Serres from 6.00am on Tuesday for the next 15 days,” Petsas said.
Kikilias, who visited Thessaloniki on Monday, said that “the epidemic is spreading rapidly in Thessaloniki,” stressing that some people who do not abide by the restrictions are risking the lives of many.
“I understand,” the Health Minister said, “the stress and fatigue some may experience, but public health is above all.”
The latest measures include the suspension of flights to and from Thessaloniki over the two-week period, along with the expansion of a night-time curfew on movement.
SMS messages for movement outside the home have been re-introduced, while churches, bars, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and most retail shops will be shut down for one month.
Greece has reported fewer cases of the coronavirus than most in Europe, but it has seen a significant increase in infections since early October.
On Monday, Greek health authorities announced 1,152 new cases of coronavirus in the country, raising the total number to 42,080.
Cuisine is one of the most important differentials amongst Greek people.
Specific dishes or styles of cooking become an identity to a town, a region and even a family.
Greeks take pride in passing down yiayia’s cooking skills, from one generation to the next and in the older days this was done by inheriting yiayia’s cookbook -with her notes in it, because this is what makes a cookbook precious!
As technology progresses and peoples’ lives become busier, they move away from their kitchens. Traditions become memories and stories of past generations and culinary skills, inadvertently, become lost.
But, do they have to?
Christina Banos started writing down her Yiayia’s recipes when she was a teenager.
“I started writing down her recipes, jotting them down on pieces of scrap paper as I watched her cook and bake with my mother. It was my way of documenting and keeping our traditional cooking going, for myself, and for her seven other grandchildren,” Christina tells The Greek Herald.
Some years later, the scrap paper became photos and videos and yiayia Triantafilia’s traditional Greek recipes were enjoyed by many. This is how Homemade by Rose began.
“The name of my social platform Homemade By Rose is derived from yiayia’s full-name Triantafilia in Greek; Rose in English,” says Christina.
“When I worked as a designer in publishing, my fellow co-workers could always rely on me to arrive with a Tupperware container filled with something delicious for them to enjoy with their coffee.
“During this time, I was fortunate enough to work with some of Australia’s top stylists, photographers and food experts. It was this experience that inspired me to start Homemade by Rose”.
Cooking is about creating memories and bonds:
Triantafilia Karagiannidis, immigrated to Australia with her husband, from a village near Edessa, Northern Greece, in 1970 on the Patris.
Cooking has helped her stay connected with her home country.
Now, 50 years after her immigration journey, she has embarked on a cooking one.
One that aims to inspire the future generation to look inwards and find answers about their family history and ethnic heritage in food, as it’s often the last vestige of cultural traditions to go.
“By making meals or sweets together, we create new memories and moments that we will cherish forever. Each recipe tells a beautiful story, most of all I am immensely grateful to learn with Yiayia who makes cooking enjoyable and also a learning process.
“We both laugh, cry and learn when in the kitchen together,” Christina says and she goes on to explain how her Yiayia has helped her shape her identity as a second generation Greek Australian.
“Through her cooking, Yiayia Rose has taught me about showing love in preparing wonderful meals, desserts and baked goods. One of the things that makes me happiest is seeing my grandmother pick fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs from her garden.
“The smile on her face when she shows off her garden is priceless”.
As priceless as yiayia Triantafilia’s will to keep her culture alive through generations, so far away from her home country.
“In fact, I’m sure I inherited my passion for cooking and entertaining for family and friends from my Yiayia (and my mother)!” concludes Christina.
Yiayia’s Diples (Greek Honey Bows):
3 ½ cups sifted plain flour (more if needed),
4 egg yolks,
4 egg whites,
½ tsp baking powder,
1 ½ cup crushed walnuts (for topping),
1 tbs orange juice,
2 tbs cinnamon (for topping),
For Frying:
2 cups canola oil,
For the Syrup:
2 cups sugar,
2 cups water,
1 cup honey,
2 Cinnamon sticks,
Carefully separate 4 egg whites and yolks in separate bowls and whisk (Egg whites in a larger bowl)
Add orange juice and the egg yolks into the egg white mixture and continue beating.
Sift flour with baking powder gradually into the larger bowl and whisk until mixture starts to thicken. Continue adding flour and once mixture starts to thicken use your hands until dough is firm enough to roll.
Cover and allow the dough to rest for at least 30minutes in a clear wrap.
Knead dough again thoroughly.
Lightly flour a flat surface. Divide dough into pieces and roll out like a filo.
Cut pastry into strips about 50mm x 100mm. Gather the middle of each pastry strip so that it resembles a bowtie.
Heat oil in a deep pan, add pastries and cook carefully until golden on both sides. Drain and let rest.
Prepare syrup by mixing honey, cinnamon sticks and warm water in a saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes.
Once pastries have cooled, dip inside warm syrup and place on a tray.
Mix cinnamon, sugar and crushed walnuts in a bowl and sprinkle on top of pastries.
