The foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey met on Thursday for the first time since a dispute emerged between the two NATO members over energy exploration and territorial rights in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
A dispute between the two NATO allies and longtime rivals over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean this summer led to fears of open conflict as warships from both sides faced off.
Turkey’s foreign ministry released a short video of Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusloglu meeting on the sidelines of the Globsec Forum in Bratislava. The atmosphere of what both sides said was a brief meeting appeared cordial and even jovial as the two, both wearing masks, bumped elbows, patted each other on the shoulder and stood at a table to talk.
A Greek diplomatic official said the two agreed to set a date for the exploratory talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal the contents of the meeting.
The talks will be the 61st round of a long-running process of talks between Greece and Turkey designed to reduce tension and improve relations that are often testy between the two neighbors.
At odds over a series of issues, including territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea, the two countries have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s. Earlier this summer, Turkey sent a research vessel escorted by warships to prospect for energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean in an area Greece says is over its own continental shelf and where it claims exclusive economic rights.
Greece mobilised its own navy fleet and put its armed forces on standby.
Ankara withdrew its exploration vessels from contested waters last month to “allow for diplomacy” ahead of a meeting of EU leaders. After the summit the bloc said it would punish Turkey if it continued its operations in the region.
“I’m very proud to call him my father,” says Arthur George Sklavos, the son of George Peter Sklavos, before asking me a powerful question.
“Can you imagine yourself as a 12-and-a-half-year-old, going and living in a foreign country, not knowing the language and then enlisting as a 24-year-old and fighting for that country?”
For myself, and many others today, it’s a scene we probably can’t imagine. But for George Peter Sklavos, this sequence of events was a reality. His reality.
Arriving in Australia and the Cumberland Cafe:
George was born in the village of Mitata on the Greek island of Kythera on November 4, 1915. He was one of five siblings including his sister Eleni and brothers Haralambos-Babi, Vasili and Nick.
Due to the prevailing poverty in Greece during the 1920’s, George decided to migrate to Australia in search of a better life. He arrived in Sydney in 1928 on board the ship, Orian.
George Sklavos is among these boys who were migrating to Australia. Photo supplied.
George immediately began to work at the Cumberland Cafe on Church Street in Parramatta, which was owned by his uncle Arthur Psaltis. Whilst there, he would send money home to his struggling family.
“But eventually my dad saved up enough money to buy the cafe with his brother Vasili, who came out to Australia in 1937. Soon after, they were also joined by their other brother Nick,” George’s son, Arthur, tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
The three Sklavos brothers worked together in the cafe until the outbreak of World War II, which altered George’s life forever.
The Cumberland Cafe in Parramatta which George Sklavos owned. Photo supplied.
Enlisting in the Australian army:
As WWII broke out in 1939, George decided to enlist into the Australian army. According to his son, Arthur, the decision was not made lightly.
“It was decided by the three brothers – my dad, Vasili and Nick – that he would enlist because they knew that of the three, he would be able to adapt better,” Arthur explains.
“He had been in Australia for almost 12 years by then and knew English well because he had learnt a lot through reading the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.”
This sacrifice forced George to leave his family and the cafe he loved behind and instead, he found himself on the battlefront in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
At the time, Australian and American forces had launched a major offensive against the Japanese occupying PNG.
George Sklavos enlisted into the Australian army. Photo supplied.
“My dad was enlisted as an engineer in the Australian army. The Japanese bombings around Port Moresby and along the Kokoda Trail meant that he was responsible for helping out with the reconstruction of buildings and rebuilding bridges,” Arthur says.
“He was actually sought after for his cafe experience as well. He oversaw the army mess, which was bombed at one stage. They sadly lost the chef, so dad was thrown into that to rebuild it and keep the stomachs of all the men happy.”
The trauma was never ending during the 18 months that George was in Port Moresby. In fact, Arthur says George also had to deal with the heartbreak of hearing that his father had been killed by the Germans in Greece, while he was off fighting for Australia.
“My dad felt sad and helpless upon hearing about his father’s death. He was sad that he wasn’t there to defend and help his father,” Arthur says.
On top of this, George even had to witness his friends being killed in action. Arthur remembers George telling him about the moment he had to take over the firing of a weapon because his friend had been hit by shrapnel.
“He had to take control of firing a 55-millimetre howitzer because the gunner was killed by flying shrapnel. And just as he had taken over, his other mate nearby was hit by more shrapnel and lost his leg. These are the horrific things that he had to live with,” Arthur explains.
Following this incident, George had to be evacuated from Port Moresby to Cairns as he had contracted malaria. After months of rehabilitation, he re-entered the service and was re-assigned to a base in Cairns as a crane driver.
Arthur says the only thing which made this experience more bearable for his father was the letters he received from home as they gave him a sense that ‘things were okay.’
George’s return from the battlefront:
But of course, nothing was truly ‘okay’ about fighting in a war. That is until, after 4.5 years of service, George was finally released from duty and allowed to return home to Parramatta.
George Sklavos was allowed to return home from war after 4.5 years.
It was on his return that he met, courted and married his beautiful wife, Eleni Mavromatis, through proxy. Their marriage produced four gorgeous children, including Peter in 1949, Anthony in 1951, Anna in 1953 and Arthur in 1960.
During this time, George became very active in supporting the local Greek community and Arthur says his father was “a proud founding member of the Greek Orthodox Church in Parramatta and the local RSL club.” Later on in 1960, he ventured into a new business on Darcy Street in Parramatta called the Cumberland Milk Bar.
He was also awarded the WWII Star, which represents service in the military, the Pacific Star, for his service in the Pacific, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal for 1939-45.
The war medals awarded to George Sklavos. Photo supplied.
When George retired in 1992 after six decades of hard work, his greatest pleasures in life became his Sunday picnics, his love of soccer and being surrounded by family. A family which still remembers George and his sacrifice fondly even years after he passed away at the age of 99 on October 13, 2015.
“The war made men like my father into men of calibre. Dad was a very proud man, but a very, very humble man. I never heard him raise his voice to anything or anyone even though he had the tortures of war embedded in him,” Arthur says passionately.
“So to go through what he did and still be the man he was, that makes me very proud and very humbled to call him my father.”
Followers of Greek Australian, Michael Zavros, will be shocked by the artist’s long-awaited Sydney exhibition next week, his first show here in over a decade.
‘The Michael Zavros: A Guy Like Me’ exhibit at Redfern gallery, Sullivan and Strumpf, will feature a vaguely lifelike mannequin and self portrait of Zavros called ‘Dad.’
In his words, ‘Dad’ is the better looking version of himself.
“He’s a better version of me — 6’3” (190cm), broader, more cut, a bit younger and a lot smoother,” Zarvos told TimeOut.
The head of the mannequin was sculpted by Zavros then run through a 3D printer. From there, the head was attached to a store-bought mannequin and the whole thing was airbrushed to match his skin tones.
“I had to find a lot of different people to work with in order to make this thing,” he said.
Zavros then took the new and ‘improved’ him out and about around town to take in the sand and surf, a Sunday drive and a spot of horse riding.
He captured the whole thing on camera, and the final portraits have been blown up for your viewing pleasure, presented in a seriously airbrushed, lifestyle mag-ready photoshoot style.
Zavros’ show will run at Sullivan and Strumpf in Zetland from October 15 until November 14.
The Balkan wars occurred from October 8, 1912 to July 18, 1913 between members of the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia) and the Ottoman Empire.
On this day in 1912, the First Balkan War broke out when Greek naval forces landed at Moudros in Lemnos. To mark the occasion, we take a look at how the event played out.
Start of the First Balkan War:
In 1912, the first operations by the Greek Navy was to secure several objectives. The capture of the Turkish-held port of Moudros was the first step.
Located on the southern coast of the island of Lemnos, the port was attacked on October 8, 1912. The fleet landed Greek marines, which progressed quickly in combination with close naval support. They defeated the unique Turkish garrison and occupied the port.
Greek forces in Lemnos:
Moudros Bay became the cornerstone of the Greek fleet for all naval operations in the area, enabling it to keep watch on the Dardanelles and prevent a foray by the Ottoman Navy into the Aegean.
On January 18, 1913, the Turks attempted to retake the island, however, the Greeks found out the Turks were approaching and defeated them in what is known as the Battle of Lemnos.
With this, the Ottomans were prevented from supplying and reinforcing their land forces in Macedonia by sea, a critical factor in the success of the Balkan League in the war.
Foreign partners coming to Australia will soon have to demonstrate they can speak English in order to be granted a permanent visa.
Partner visa applicants and their spouses, provided they are a permanent resident, will need to demonstrate they’ve made reasonable efforts to learn English.
The change to the visa requirement comes after a rise in the number of people not being able to speak English well or at all in the past decade, Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said in a statement.
“From late 2021, new partner visa applicants and permanent resident sponsors will be required to have functional level English or to demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to learn English,” Mr Tudge said.
Alan Tudge says the new requirement is in part so migrants can enjoy a better life in Australia. Photo: ABC News/Tamara Penniket.
“People will be able to demonstrate this through, for example, the completion of 500 hours of free English language classes through the Adult Migration English Program.”
Mr Tudge pointed to a previously announced overhaul of the Adult Migrant English Program, giving migrants access to unlimited English classes free of charge.
Partner visas are processed in two stages and the minister’s office said the new language requirement would not need to be met until someone was applying for permanency, usually after two years of being able to live in Australia on a temporary partner visa.
The Government is also temporarily boosting the number of partner visas available this financial year under the existing migration cap of 160,000 places.
Mr Tudge said there was almost one million people living in Australia with poor or no English and that language skills were necessary to finding work and staying safe.
“And we want to encourage everybody to be able to learn English so that they can fully engage in Australian life, in every aspect of it, from employment markets, to our democracy, to our society, to community activity,” Mr Tudge said.
“English is absolutely essential in order to do all of that.”
Greece’s Foreign Ministry says it is recalling its ambassador to Azerbaijan following what it says are “completely unfounded and insulting allegations” by the Azerbaijani government that it is tolerating the preparation of terrorist acts.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the Greek ambassador had been recalled to Athens for consultations.
It said the Azerbaijani government had claimed Greece was tolerating the preparation of terrorist acts, attempts to recruit terrorist fighters and cyber attacks against Azerbaijan due to the latter’s conflict with Armenia over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ministry said it had filed a protest over the issue on Tuesday with the Azerbaijani ambassador in Greece.
Earlier this month, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited media reports and other information that it said indicated that “thousands of ethnic Armenians” from several countries, including Greece, were heading to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Occupied Cyprus said on Tuesday it will reopen the beach area of an abandoned resort in no-man’s land, a move condemned by Greek Cypriots and likely to conjure up memories of the 1974 Turkish invasion that partitioned the island.
Ersin Tatar, premier of the breakaway state of occupied Cyprus, made the announcement in Ankara alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who said he backed the decision on Varosha, sealed off within barbed wire for decades.
“God willing, we will start to use the Maras beach on Thursday morning together with our people,” Tatar said, using Varosha’s Turkish name.
Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, meets with Ersin Tatar, prime minister of occupied Cyprus, in Ankara, Turkey October 6, 2020.
Sources in Cyprus said the plan was to open up about 1.5 km of beachfront to the public and not the approximately 6 square km inland that includes abandoned hotels and residences, which its population of 39,000 people fled in 1974 during a Turkish invasion following a Greek inspired coup.
“We hope that the whole of Maras is opened to use after ongoing work is completed by respecting property rights,” Erdogan said, pledging support for Turkish Cypriot officials.
Cyprus promptly condemned the move to partially reopen the abandoned resort and said it would file a recourse to the United Nations Security Council.
“This is an exceptionally unacceptable situation,” Cypriot President, Nicos Anastasiades, said.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also criticised the move and said Greece would support Cyprus.
“I want to condemn Turkey’s decision to extend the entry permit to the Varosia coastal front. This decision is a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions,” Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter.
Θέλω να καταδικάσω την απόφαση της Τουρκίας για την επέκταση της άδειας εισόδου στο παραλιακό μέτωπο των Βαρωσίων. Η απόφαση αυτή συνιστά κατάφωρη παραβίαση των Αποφάσεων του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας των ΗE. Η Ελλάδα θα στηρίξει όλες τις προσπάθειες της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας. pic.twitter.com/bJthBdwkU6
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, added late on Wednesday that the incident would only exacerbate tensions between Turkey and the bloc, already running high over Ankara’s gas exploration in Cypriot waters.
“The opening of this area, which is a closed area according to the ceasefire agreements under the auspices of the United Nations, is a serious violation of this agreement,” Borrell told the European parliament.
He said the bloc would issue a statement later on Wednesday “asking Turkey to stop this activity.”
“For sure, this is not going to help. On the contrary it’s going to make it more difficult to reach an agreement on an especially difficult situation for all of us on the eastern Mediterranean,” he added.
Following guilty verdicts against the Golden Dawn group over a series of crimes including murder, Athens has seen a day of jubilation, tears and tear gas.
As a landmark trial spanning more than five years concluded, Golden Dawn was found guilty of four charges – significantly of being a criminal organisation.
Tens of thousands people who had converged around the heavily guarded court complex in anticipation of the judgment, roared in excitement as the news of the landmark decision emerged.
Protesters gather outside the Athens courthouse on Wednesday morning. Photo: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA.
People hugged, chanted and clapped at the news, and there was a sense of relief as well as joy in the air.
In emotional scenes, Pavlos Fyssas’s mother, Magda, who has waited for more than seven years to see justice served for her son, punched the air outside the court and said “you did it, my son,” while members of his family cried and hugged each other nearby.
“Pavlos did it. He did it. My son!”Magda Fyssa, mother of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, who was murdered in 2013 by a member of Golden Dawn, reacts to the verdict on 7 October.
Protesters young and old embraced and chanted the names of Golden Dawn’s victims – Pavlos Fyssas and Shehzad Luqman, who was 27 when he was stabbed to death by Golden Dawn affiliates in 2013.
But the joy was cut short by the use of tear gas and a water cannon against the largely peaceful group.
A small number of people had reportedly started throwing objects at the police, but after dancing and clapping, many who had gathered outside the court were left struggling to breathe amid copious waves of tear gas.
Greek riot police officers charge protesters during scuffles in part of an anti-fascist rally, outside the court in Athens, following the announcement of its verdict. Photo: Yorgos Karahalis/AP Photo.
However, the tear gas was not enough to dampen the protesters’ spirits as they left the court and headed towards Syntagma Square, chanting anti-fascist songs.
Greek PM and President welcome Golden Dawn convictions:
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also hailed the guilty verdicts as a victory, writing on Twitter that “democracy has won.”
“Αfter the Greek people voted the neo-Nazi party of Golden Dawn out of Parliament in the last election, today the Greek justice system convicted its leadership of operating as a criminal organisation. A truly historic day for Greece, democracy and the rule of law,” Mitsotakis wrote.
Το ναζιστικό μόρφωμα, μετά τις κάλπες, καταδικάστηκε και στο δικαστήριο. Απόδειξη της δύναμης που εκπέμπει το κοινοβουλευτικό πολίτευμα και η διάκριση των εξουσιών. Η ενότητα, η αλήθεια και η ομαλότητα.
This was followed by the Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who said the judgment was an important day for democracy and evidence Greek institutions were able to “fend off any attempt to undermine them.”
It is an important day for democracy. Εxtreme political violence is alien to our long democratic tradition. The conviction of Golden Dawn confirms our institutions’ strength against any attempt to undermine them.
Pavlos Fyssas’ murderer claims remorse to appeal for smaller sentence:
During the Golden Dawn trial, Giorgos Roupakias was also found guilty of all charges related to the murder of Pavlos Fyssas.
But he has appealed for a smaller sentence on the grounds that he feels “sincere remorse” for stabbing the 34-year-old musician to death.
Giorgos Roupakias also asked judges to take into consideration his clean criminal record before the September 2013 killing as they prepare to punish him for the crime of premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.
Giorgos Roupakias was also found guilty of all charges related to the murder of Pavlos Fyssas. Photo: Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press.
Addressing the court, Roupakias’ lawyer said his client has been “demonised” by the media and has been unable to leave his 50 square meter house for the four-and-a-half years since he was released from pretrial custody.
The court will deliver sentences later this week or by Monday at the latest.
Greek MEPs call for expulsion of ex-Golden Dawn reps from Parliament:
Greek left-wing lawmakers in the European Parliament urged President David Sassoli to expel two former Golden Dawn lawmakers from the House after the court verdict.
Movement For Change (KINAL) MEP, Nikos Androulakis, and Communist Party of Greece (KKE) MEPs urged Sassoli to expel Ioannis Lagos.
In his letter, Androulakis said, “Greek justice took the first step. I urge you to take the next one.”
The MEPs also called for the expulsion of MEP Athanasios Konstantinou, who was also a Golden Dawn member.
Lagos and Konstantinou are listed as “Independent” in official Europarliament pages.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is a French Open semifinalist for the first time after a straight sets win against Andrey Rublev in the quarter final.
World number six Tsitsipas, who will face top seed Novak Djokovic or Pablo Carreno Busta on Friday, made light work of his Russian opponent, taking just under two hours to win 7-5 6-2 6-3.
It puts Tsitsipas – the first player from his nation to make it this far in Paris – into his second career grand slam semi-final, following his run to the last four in the Australian Open in 2019.
The 22-year-old, who claimed 43 points on his first serve, won 16 of the final 21 games to thwart any comeback hopes for Rublev.
“I have been feeling really comfortable playing on this court,” Tsitsipas told a limited number of spectators on Court Philippe-Chatrier after his triumph.
“Despite not having a good start and being a break down, I remembered what a big fighter I am. It’s about fighting and trying to find solutions in difficult moments.”
Tsitsipas conceded the first break in an intense opener, with Rublev striking to go 3-2 up, but the 13th seed could not hold his nerve when serving for the set and an overhit forehand handed the ATP Finals champion a reprieve.
Another sloppy Rublev forehand gifted Tsitsipas the first set, and several unforced errors from the Russian followed in the second as the fifth seed upped the pressure.
A wonderful drop-shot gave Tsitsipas a first match point on Rublev’s serve, though he failed to convert it.
Yet victory was assured in the next game, with Tsitsipas rounding off a supreme display with a clinical forehand volley.
A five-and-a-half-year trial of the far-right Golden Dawn political group has officially come to a close, with a guilty verdict being dealt to party member executives for joining a criminal organisation.
Specifically, Nikos Michaloliakos, Elias Kasidiari, Giannis Lagos, George Germenis, Christos Pappas, Elias Panagiotaros and Artemis Mattheopoulos were all found guilty.
Also part of the trial, Giorgos Roupakias was found guilty of all charges related to the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, along with the other 17 defendants facing charges related to the musician’s murder.
All the accused for the attack against PAME have also been found guilty.
Athens comes to a standstill
Thousands of people gathered outside a courthouse in Athens shouting slogans calling for the defendants to be jailed. Hundreds of police were also deployed at the courthouse, a few kilometres from the historic centre of the capital.
Cheers erupted from the streets following the guilty verdict announcement as prepared molotov cocktails were allegedly laid to rest.
Sixty-eight people associated with Golden Dawn, including the party’s entire leadership, were faced with charges of operating a criminal organisation while at the same time posing as a political group. Police officers who allegedly supported the far-right party are among those on trial.
“They are not innocent, they must go to jail, they must be convicted,” said a 69-year old demonstrator outside the court who gave her name as Sophia to Reuters.
“We must send a message to the younger generations, a message against fascism,” she said.
The prosecutions were sparked by the late-night murder of a 34-year-old anti-fascist rapper called Pavlos Fyssas, who was chased down by a mob of Golden Dawn thugs and stabbed to death in front of a cafe in the western Athens suburb of Keratsini in September 2013.
MPs who represented the xenophobic bloc until its electoral defeat in July 2019 are also accused of attempted murder, possession of weapons and employing violence to eradicate perceived enemies.
The accusations were vigorously denied by the party.
Dimitris Psarras at the Golden Dawn trial, which could place the party’s leaders behind bars, on November 6, 2019. Photo: Nick Paleologos/Al Jazeera.
Over 100 Greek Australians released a statement against Golden Dawn ahead of the trial verdict yesterday, saying a guilty verdict on all charges would, “ensure and protect the democratic values of Greece the country of our forbearers.”
“The intimidation of citizens, the undermining of democratic politics and institutions through violence and murder or through racist and extreme language, have no place in Greece,” the statement adds.
