Daily Archives: January 30, 2015

Greek Church in Bucharest

Straddling the Black Sea and bounded by Hungary to the north, the Hellenic history of Romania piqued my curiosity and I decided to pay a visit. Greek history in Romania dates back over 2,700 years! Just don’t call them Eastern European…

When I interviewed Ramona, a friend of mine from Ploesti, a small inland city near Bucharest, for my article, it was made abundantly clear to me where they are geographically.

“Billy, we are not East European, we belong to the Romance languages; we are influenced by Greeks and Europe.” Geographically, Romania is actually on the eastern side, however, many people in this ancient country are quick to provide the same sentiment I encountered above.

What’s in a name?

Taking the name itself, some believe this is a place for Roma (gypsies), others will tell you they are named after Romans, whilst an ardent Greek like myself may tell you that the medieval name for a Greek was actually Romai, hence there is a connection to Byzantine Greece. Actually, the name Romania did not officially come into existence until 1861 and had only been referred to by that name in modern times, unofficially since the 1600s.
Romania is technically a coming together of Wallachia, Moldova and the famous state of Dracula, Transylvania, as well as other areas. Having the occasional night out in Romania, I can safely say Dracula wasn’t around during my visit. It is probable he has now retired as the taste of blood is no longer what it once was in Romania.

Oh, and Romania is not named after gypsies!

Ancient region

The ancient land of Romania and its surrounds was called Dacia and at one stage controlled a significant portion of the Balkans. The Greek colonies emerged around 2700BC on the Black Sea to take advantage of sea trade, especially with Crimea, and to ease the over-population of mainland Greece.
Important colonies that emerged included Callatis, Tomis, Histria, Axiopolis, Dionysopoulis, Halmarys. Most of these colonies survived the coming of the Roman Empire in the second century BC with their trade and status reduced under their new masters, though they once again thrived when the Greek speaking Byzantines took possession after the fourth century AD.

Byzantine epoch

The Byzantine rulers renamed Tomis, calling it Constanta, which became a major hub for Byzantine merchants and fleet until the Bulgarians arrived around the late 900s. According to maps I have accessed and the limited research I can undertake on Constanta, the city appears to have been under the rule of Bulgaria for most of the period until the Ottomans arrived. There was of course intermittent return to Greek Byzantine control. The Bulgarians and the Byzantine Empire fought many campaigns against each other in the Balkans during the period with territory changing on numerous occasions.
Greek cultural influences were limited to the area of the Black Sea, the Danube and the area bounded by Hungary. It is hard to imagine how far north in to the interior Greek influence was during ancient and Byzantine times.

Moldavia and Wallachia were quick to bring in Greek nobility and religious institutions when Constantinople was taken in 1453 by the Ottomans.
With the Greek language becoming influential under territory occupied by the Ottomans due to the education of the Greeks, they found it easy to accelerate to the top of the elite in Romania, ushering in the period known as ‘Phanariote’.

Phanariote control

By the 1700s modern Greek culture and religion was prevalent across many areas of the Balkans, especially in Romania, and by now the rule of Greek princes in various provinces was evident. The Phanariote people were the main source of bureaucrats for the Ottomans, ensuring that by the period of the Greek Independence movement, Greek speakers were in a good position to dominate the Balkans. In fact, Moldavia was actually occupied by the Hellenes at the time of the Greek Revolution. In retaliation, the Ottomans ended Greek Phanariote privileges in 1822.

Greek Numbers

Greek presence in the post Byzantine world was spread across the region, and whilst it is hard to accurately assess Greek numbers, it may have been approximately 10-15 per cent by the middle of the 1800s. The highly populated city of Constanta had a Greek population of almost 30 per cent during that period and by 1896 it was 23 per cent. Today they number only in the hundreds.

Constanta is indicative of Greeks in Romania as a whole; there are approximately 10,000 remaining. This is down from double that figure in 1992.
I was told by representatives of the Hellenic Union of Romania that the Greek population declined in the twentieth century due to the growth and stability of modern Greece. Many with Greek heritage sought a return to their ancestral lands. Also, from my own research, the communist leadership around the 1950s and 1960s made it hard for many Greeks, apparently taking various Greek properties and persecuting many Hellenes.

Hellenic Union of Romania

You know that Greece as a concept in the heart as well as being a cultural truism has a strong future when you spend just a few minutes with representatives of the Union. Based in Bucharest, with affiliates across the country, the vast majority of the Greek population of Romania are here. On the day of my visit, I was impressed by the multi-storey dwelling. The building proudly flew the Greek flag and in the driveway was parked the bus of the Union. You can feel the activity and flavour of Hellenism here.

I was greeted by an array of people. Some were there for morning tea, others to oversee the children who were being taught in the kindergarten as well as the Greek dancing. I was impressed with how seriously they take the role of young people and their development. The Greek dancing class was taken by Aris, the teenage son of the president.

I was provided with copies of the magazine of the Hellenic Union and a number of published books on Greek history and significant achievements by Hellenes in Romania. I think my suitcase suddenly weighed double by the time I returned to my hotel room that evening with books I will always cherish. One I would recommend is by Ionel Candea, The Greek Community of Braila, which details medieval Byzantine ceramics in Romania. You can find this title and others like it in their very own library.

The Union is managed by the president, a committee, an administrator and, I believe, another two staff members. They oversee a school that has 200 children enrolled. As I understand it, the Greek school had been shut down in 1972 by the communist regime, a common theme in dictatorships across Europe during this period. The school was reintroduced in 1990.
Students compete for the annual ‘Olympiada’ for the Greek language, which is a prestigious competition. You can see all the annual winners’ pictures hanging up on the walls of the classroom.

From what I experienced on my visit, I am positive that the Hellenic culture will survive here for generations to come, continuing an unbroken presence in Romania. Sadly for me, none of the representatives I met here could trace their heritage back thousands of years!

After my visit to the Union, I drove past a beautiful Greek church which was located nearby. The church was designed in the shape of a Greek temple, which was built around 1893 and is located near the Greek Embassy.

Ploesti

I also had the pleasure of visiting one of the twenty-two associations affiliated to the Union, in Ploesti. Whilst you can see the need for development in the city, you can also gauge the sense of patriotism here. People are proud to be from Romania and everywhere I went, people wanted to tell me how fantastic their country is.

The Greek office I visited was amazing. For a small city with minimal access to funds, I felt the Greek community had a wealth of spirit that money cannot buy. The office has a school classroom, coordinates dancing, organises a Greek festival and does its best to promote Hellenism through its energetic representative, a woman in her 50s (who has not been named in this article).

I was pleased to visit the only Greek tavern here to eat calamari and have an ouzo with the Greek owner who had lived here since the fall of communism. Ploesti will always make me smile. I needed to withdraw money and chose Pireaus Bank. It had no money in it…

Greek students and famous names (Zappas, Averoff)

Romania has always hosted Greek students. I recall meeting Spiros Kontonikos in a small town in Greece in 2004. He has since become a good friend of mine who I catch up with whenever I can, and I appreciate the hospitality provided by him and his family. Spiros told me he went to Romania to study medicine and learn from a new country. It was one of his first trips abroad.

He always reflects glowingly about the people of Romania and there are similarities with the culture of Greece. I was told that this made it easy for him to adapt during his time away from Greece. Spiro studied in Iasi, which is just shy of the border with Moldova, between 1987-1992.

Interestingly, his grandfather lived in Romania as well, way back in the early 1900s, establishing two eateries in Bucharest. I was informed that their grandfather spoke about how the city was full of rich Greeks, as well as Vlahoi from Greece. He lived there for a while but would travel back and forth. Unfortunately, Pappou Kontonikos lost a lot when his sons-in-law gambled away his money, and in the stock market crash of 1929 he lost whatever he had in the bank. In Iasi, Greeks came together to devise the strategy of 1821, to bring down the Ottomans. It was one of the active sites of the Filiki Eteria. Iasi is not too far from Odessa in Ukraine where the house (and museum) of Filiki Eteria is located.

Spiros and his wife Angela reminded me that a lot of Greeks invested in Romania.

Evangelis Zappas was possibly the biggest name, born in 1800 in the village of Labovo near Gjirokaster in Albania, a region with a significant Greek minority.

Zappas was a significant player in the Greek War of Independence, reaching the rank of major, and by 1831 he moved to Wallachia. Here he made a massive fortune in agriculture and land ownership. His most significant achievement is the establishment of the ‘Olympic Games’, for as early as 1856 he was seeking to create a modern Olympiad. He established a fund for the Olympiad in Greece which was then held in 1859 in Athens. He died in 1865; his work on an athletes’ competition was the precursor for the modern Olympic Games that Pierre de Coubertin would officially found.

Another famous name is Evangelos Averoff, the famous politician and author, who was born in Greece. His ancestry was from Romania.

It is fair to say that a country with plenty of natural beauty and access to the sea should be enough to keep the current Hellenic population of Romania in place for many decades to come. With no Ottomans or Dracula to scare them away, I am positive they will stay in this old country for at least another 2,700 years.

Camilla Lisanti’s parents are both cancer researchers at Manchester University. Over dinner, her father, Michael, asked her how she would cure the disease, and she suggested using antibiotics, “like when I have a sore throat.”

Michael and his wife, Federica Sotgia, tested her theory at the lab and were surprised to find that several cheap and widely used antibiotics destroyed cancerous cells in samples from breast, prostate, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, skin, and brain tumors. Some of the antibiotics worked by preventing cancer cells from making energy-providing mitochondria— which cancer stem cells are prolific in.

Most importantly, these common antibiotics tested did not harm healthy cells. Michael believes they could prove to be an effective and inexpensive treatment.

“I thought it was very naïve to think you could cure cancer with antibiotics, but at the end of the day Camilla was right,” he told the Daily Mail. “She usually is right about things.”

The research is promising but is limited to lab results and needs to be tested on people.

In a comment to The Independent, Dr. Alan Worsley, Cancer Research UK’s senior scientist said that some antibiotics have been known to have anti-cancer effects since the 1960s and are a well-established part of cancer treatment, along with chemotherapies.

“There’s no indication from this work that these particular antibiotics would kill cancer cells in patients, or what sort of side effects there might be,” he told The Independent.

source:foxnews.com

Flight MH370 has been declared an accident, and all on board as dead. Photo: Reuters

A seven-nation investigation has failed to discover what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 327 days after the plane disappeared over the South China Sea in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation says both safety and criminal investigations have been limited by a lack of physical evidence, particularly the plane’s flight recorders.

“Therefore at this juncture there is no evidence to substantiate any speculations as to the cause of the accident,” said Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the department’s director-general.

Families waiting anxiously for any developments in the investigation were bitterly disappointed when Mr Azharuddin made the most comprehensive statement on the investigation in months.

The department formally declared the disappearance an “accident,” a move that will open the way for the victims’ family members to receive compensation.

‘It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, we officially declare that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident … and that all 239 of the passengers and crew on board are presumed to have lost their lives,” Mr Azharuddin said.

‘All 239 of the passengers and crew on board are presumed to have lost their lives’ … Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman announces the disappearance of MH370 was an accident. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia Airlines said it was ready to proceed immediately with a process that will see “fair and reasonable” compensation paid to relatives “in accordance with applicable laws.”

“Without in any way intending to diminish the feelings of the families, it is hoped that this declaration will enable the families to obtain the assistance they need, in particular through the compensation process,” Mr Azharuddin said.

The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared over the South China Sea in the early hours of March 8 last year after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, prompting dozens of wild theories about what happened to it.

Nicolette Gomes, left, consoles her mother as they hear the news. Photo: AP

Mr Azharuddin said that based on analysis of all available evidence and the supporting factual information the data supports the conclusion that MH370 ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth.

A search of the area where the plane is believed to have crashed into the ocean after running out of fuel has covered 18,600 square kilometres.

Four ships are continuing the search with the backing of Australia and China.

Jiang Hui, left, and Dai Shuqin, relatives of passengers on board MH370 that went missing on March 8, 2014, react while watching the announcement by Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority, in Beijing. Photo: AP

Mr Azharuddin’s statement made no mention of earlier indications by Malaysian officials that there appeared to be human interference with the plane’s communications equipment as it was leaving Malaysian airspace and entering that of Vietnam.

“Available data suggests that after the transponder ceased transmitting, there was no normal radio or aircraft system (ACARS) communications transmitted or received from the aircraft,” he said.

Mr Azharuddin said satellite communication system signalling messages placed the aircraft in an arc in the Indian Ocean where its fuel would have been exhausted.

A couple who lost a son on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that went missing on March 8, 2014, protest near the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing to demand the Malaysian government keeps searching for the missing plane. Photo: AP

He said based on the available data the plane was on the sea floor.

“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is also an area with adverse sea conditions with known depths of 6000 metres.”

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur are planning to release a detailed interim report into the investigations on March 7, the day before the first anniversary of the disappearance.

But officials say the report mainly covers technical issues and does not include any significant revelations about the disappearance.

The international team consists of the US National Transport Safety Board, Britain’s Air Accidents Investigations Branch, China’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Department, France’s Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau, the Australia Transport Safety Bureau, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and British satellite communications company Inmarsat.

The report’s release is a requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Mr Azharuddin confirmed that a Malaysian police investigation into the disappearance is ongoing.

No details have been made public.

“We have never wavered in our commitment to continue our efforts to find MH370 and bring closure for everyone, most of all for the families of the passengers and crew,” Mr Azharuddin said.

“This declaration is by no means the end. We will forge ahead with the cooperation and assistance of the governments of China and Australia. MH370, its passengers and its crew will always be remembered and honoured,” he said.

Some family members were disappointed when the department called off a press briefing because family members had turned up.

They were to be provided a separate briefing.

Earlier family members issued a statement urging the Malaysian officials not to “jump the gun” on what they announce.

The crisis worsened for Malaysia Airlines on July 17 when another plane,, Flight MH17, was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Rounding out a bad year for Southeast Asian carriers, an AirAsia flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore crashed in December, killing all 162 people on board.

source:smh.com.au

Η επίσκεψη του προέδρου του Ευρωκοινοβουλίου Μάρτιν Σουλτς σηματοδοτεί ότι πρώτιστη αξία της Ευρώπης είναι η αποδοχή της λαϊκής κυριαρχίας, τόνισε ο πρωθυπουργός Αλέξης Τσίπρας σε κοινές δηλώσεις με τον Μάρτιν Σούλτς, τον οποίο χαρακτήρισε καλό φίλο της Ελλάδος, αλλά και προσωπικό φίλο του.

«Χρήσιμη και εποικοδομητική» χαρακτήρισε τη συνάντησή τους για την εδραίωση «νέας σχέσης εμπιστοσύνης μεταξύ της μεταμνημονιακής Ελλάδας και των θεσμών της ΕΕ».

Επισημαίνοντας ότι επί τέσσερα χρόνια ο ελληνικός λαός πλήρωνε την αποτυχία της πολιτικής της λιτότητας, σηκώνοντας βάρη που δεν του αναλογούσαν λόγω της άρνησης μιας οικονομικής ολιγαρχίας να πληρώσει, καθεστώς -όπως είπε- που προστάτευαν οι προηγούμενες κυβερνήσεις, τόνισε ότι τώρα μπαίνει τέλος σε αυτή την ανάρμοστη σχέση.

«Διαβεβαίωσα τον κ. Σουλτς» ότι έχουμε σχέδιο σαρωτικών μεταρρυθμίσεων που αντιμετωπίζει τις αιτίες που οδήγησαν στην κρίση, τις πελατειακές σχέσεις, τη διαφθορά, τη φοροδιαφυγή.

Επίσης, πρόσθεσε, έχουμε σχέδιο για την επιστροφή στην ανάπτυξη, απορρίπτοντας τις πολιτικές λιτότητας, αλλά και χωρίς τη δημιουργία νέων ελλειμμάτων. Σημειώνεται πως η δέσμευση για ισοσκελισμένους προϋπολογισμούς λειτουργεί καθησυχαστικά για τους Ευρωπαίους.

Εργαζόμαστε για μια αμοιβαία επωφελή λύση, τόνισε ο κ. Τσίπρας, αναγνωρίζοντας πως για την επίτευξη αυτού του εγχειρήματος απαιτείται χρόνος. Ωστόσο, πρόσθεσε, είναι σημαντικό ότι οι στόχοι των δύο πλευρών είναι κοινοί: η επιστροφή της ανάπτυξης, της απασχόλησης, της κοινωνικής συνοχής.

«Διαπραγματευόμαστε με ασφάλεια και εγγυόμαστε τη σταθερότητα» κατέληξε ο κ. Τσίπρας, λέγοντας μάλιστα ότι όσοι επενδύουν στο αντίθετο, γρήγορα θα διαψευστούν.

Σουλτς: Ελπίζω η Ελλάδα να παραμείνει στην ευρωπαϊκή πορεία

Από την πλευρά του ο πρόεδρος του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου Μάρτιν Σουλτς εξέφρασε την ικανοποίησή του για την αποφασιστικότητα της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης να πατάξει τη φοροδιαφυγή, να αγωνιστεί κατά της κοινωνικής αδικίας.

«Γνωρίζουμε ότι στην Ελλάδα οι αδύναμοι κλήθηκαν να πληρώσουν το τίμημα και οι πλούσιοι έβγαλαν τα χρήματά τους στο εξωτερικό» σημείωσε.

Στη συνέχεια, παραδέχτηκε ότι στο εξωτερικό υπήρχε ο φόβος πως ο Τσίπρας θα ακολουθήσει το δικό του δρόμο.

Αυτό δεν το φοβάμαι εγώ, είπε και πρόσθεσε απευθυνόμενος στον κ. Τσίπρα: «Θα σας αποδεχτούν με εμπιστοσύνη».

Συμπλήρωσε ότι κατανόησε από τη συζήτηση με τον έλληνα πρωθυπουργό πως η Ελλάδα θα αναζητήσει λύσεις από κοινού με τους εταίρους της.

Τόνισε πως με τον κ. Τσίπρα έγινε μια συζήτηση ουσιαστική, εποικοδομητική και ειλικρινής, κατά την οποία διαπίστωσε πως υπάρχουν δεσμοί με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση.

«Συμφωνήσαμε σε πολλά θέματα, υπάρχουν κι άλλα που χρήζουν περαιτέρω συζήτησης» τόνισε ο κ. Σουλτς. Βεβαίως θα υπάρξουν και διαφωνίες στη συζήτηση, ανέφερε σε άλλο σημείο των δηλώσεών του.

Καταλήγοντας ο πρόεδρος του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου είπε απευθυνόμενος στον έλληνα πρωθυπουργό: «Ελπίζω η υπέροχη χώρα σας να παραμείνει στην ευρωπαϊκή πορεία της. Έχετε υποχρέωση να συνεχίσετε στο δρόμο της συνεργασίας και της δημοκρατίας».

Συνάντηση Σουλτς με Σαμαρά

Συνάντηση διάρκειας μίας ώρας είχαν νωρίς το απόγευμα ο πρόεδρος της ΝΔ, Αντώνης Σαμαράς, και ο πρόεδρος του Ευρωκοινοβουλίου, Μάρτιν Σουλτς, στα κεντρικά γραφεία του κόμματος, στη λεωφόρο Συγγρού.

Η συνάντηση έληξε χωρίς να γίνουν δηλώσεις.

Πηγή:in.gr

European Parliament President Martin Schulz expressed optimism on Thursday about a solution being found between Greece and its lenders, while stressing support for the new government’s plans to tackle tax evasion.

Schulz was in Athens to hold talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as well as other officials. He is the first European official to visit Greece since Sunday’s elections led to a SYRIZA-led government taking over.

“I have rarely felt during my time in office that I have had as constructive and open discussion,” said Schulz after the meeting at the prime minister’s office.

“There is an impression within the European Union that the new Greek government will try to follow a separate path,” he said. “But I have discovered today that this is not the case.”

“I am very pleased that fighting tax evasion is one of your priorities,” he added.

Tsipras said that he had presented an “extensive” plan of reforms to the German politician.

“We are negotiating with our European partners to ensure that we find a mutually acceptable solution,” he said.

source:ekathimerini.com

Ο Μιχαήλ Γκορμπατσόφ με φόντο την Πύλη του Βραδεμβούργου το Νοέμβριο του 2014

Ένας «νέος Ψυχρός Πόλεμος» έχει κηρυχθεί μεταξύ Ρώσων και Αμερικανών και μπορεί να εξελιχθεί σε ένοπλη σύγκρουση, προειδοποιεί ο τελευταίος σοβιετικός ηγέτης Μιχαήλ Γκορμπατσόφ.

«Δεν ακούμε παρά να μιλούν για κυρώσεις της Αμερικής και της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης εναντίον της Ρωσίας. Έχουν χάσει το μυαλό τους;» δήλωσε ο Γκορμπατσόφ, σύμφωνα με το πρακτορείο Interfax.

«Η Αμερική έχει χαθεί στα βάθη της ζούγκλας και παρασύρει και εμάς. Και, για να μιλήσουμε ειλικρινά, η Αμερική μας παρασύρει σε έναν νέο Ψυχρό Πόλεμο προσπαθώντας ανοικτά να ακολουθήσει την λαμπρή ιδέα που την θέλει πάντα να θριαμβεύει» είπε ε ο 83χρονος πρώην ηγέτης, πατέρας της περεστρόικας, ο οποίος έπαιξε αποφασιστικό ρόλο στην πτώση του Τείχους του Βερολίνου το 1989.

«Που θα μας οδηγήσει αυτό; Ο Ψυχρός Πόλεμος έχει ήδη κηρυχθεί. Και μετά; Δεν είμαι σε θέση να πω με βεβαιότητα ότι ο Ψυχρός Πόλεμος δεν θα εξελιχθεί σε έναν πραγματικό πόλεμο. Φοβάμαι μήπως οι Αμερικανοί πάρουν το ρίσκο» συνέχισε.

Οι προειδοποιητικές δηλώσεις του Γκορμπατσόφ διατυπώνονται μεσούσης της ουκρανικής κρίσης και της επιδείνωσης σε πρωτοφανές επίπεδο των σχέσεων μεταξύ Ρώσων και Δυτικών μετά την πτώση της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης το 1991.

Μετά την προσάρτηση της χερσονήσου της Κριμαίας στη Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία και την έναρξη της σύγκρουσης στην οποία περισσότεροι από 5.000 άνθρωποι έχουν χάσει τη ζωή τους από τον Απρίλιο στην ανατολική Ουκρανία, Ουάσινγκτον και Βρυξέλλες υιοθέτησαν σειρά οικονομικών κυρώσεων σε βάρος της Μόσχας.

Η Ουάσινγκτον προειδοποίησε την Τετάρτη με νέες κυρώσεις δηλώνοντας ότι το τίμημα »θα συνεχίσει να αυξάνεται» εάν η Ρωσία δεν σταματήσει να υποστηρίζει τους φιλορώσους αυτονομιστές στην Ουκρανία.

Οι ευρωπαίοι υπουργοί Εξωτερικών συνεδριάζουν εκτάκτως την Πέμπτη στις Βρυξέλλες για να συζητήσουν τη στάση τους απέναντι στη Ρωσία μετά την αναζωπύρωση της βίας στην ανατολική Ουκρανία και τον βομβαρδισμό της Μαριούπολης το Σάββατο κατά τον οποίο 30 άνθρωποι έχασαν τη ζωή τους.

Πηγή:in.gr