AEK comfortably held Austria to a 0-0 draw in Vienna to qualify to the knock-out stage of the Europa Cup.

AEK clinched the second place in its group behind AC Milan with five draws and one win.

It will be the only Greek team to continue in Europe after Christmas. On Monday it will be in the draw of the first knock-out stage among the unseeded teams.

The Athens team had the best chance of the game in the first half when Araujo missed the target from a close range with only the keeper to beat.

Austria piled on the pressure in the second half knowing that a goal could have put them through to the next round. However, they rarely threatened AEK’s goal.

An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale struck near the Greek island of Rhodes at 07:20 local time on Friday.

The epicenter was the sea area west of the island and 14km north-east of the island of Chalki.

The quake was felt in both islands but there have been no reports of damages.

The United States of America supports the sovereignty of countries like Greece and Turkey as a matter of principle, the American government said in comments to national Greek broadcaster ERT’s correspondent in Washington DC, concerning the Treaty of Lausanne.

The response relates to comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said during his visit to Greece on Thursday, that the Treaty of Lausanne needs updating.

“As a matter of principle, the United States supports the sovereignty of the countries in the region, including Greece and Turkey,” the Department of State spokesperson said.

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai, while holding talks with Greek Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis, said Thursday that Sino-Greek relations have witnessed steady and rapid development in recent years, especially in the areas of economic and investment cooperation.

He said China COSCO Shipping’s Piraeus Port project is a good example of win-win cooperation of the two countries.

The two top officials referred to the progress made in the implementation of the 2017-2019 framework on the sectors of transport, energy, financial services and telecoms based on the three-year Greece-China cooperation framework signed in May in Beijing, during Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visit to China.

Dragasakis underlined that the two countries have developed a mutually beneficial, and promising strategic partnership that is developing on all levels.

“On our side we wish the further promotion of this cooperation with specific actions that will promote the mutual interest of our countries and our people. In recent years, China has become a very important commercial and investment partner for Greece,” he added.

The Chinese Vice Premier suggested the two sides should seize the historical opportunity of the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, to step up all-round cooperation; promote practical cooperation through major projects; support cooperation between financial institutions in various ways; enhance balanced development by expanding trade and economic cooperation, and deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The Belt and Road Initiative; championed by China, focuses on development of new road and maritime trade routes connecting a large swathe of Asia; Middle East; Europe, and Africa.

Sources: Xinhua, ANA-MPA

The Greek and Turkish peoples are fated to live next to each other geographically, and must reach as peaceful and productive a coexistence as possible, said main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday, following a 45-minute meeting with visiting Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Athens.

“The Greek and the Turkish peoples are fated by geography to live next to one another,” Mitsotakis said. “The self-evident mission of their leadership is to guarantee a coexistence that is as harmonious, peaceful and productive as possible, to the benefit of both peoples.”

In addition, large global and regional challenges like terrorism and migration flows make Greece and Turkey’s collaboration even more urgent.

“This however requires responsibility, the application of wisdom and goodwill, away from behaviours and statements that encourage nationalism and populism,” the ND leader said.

Mitsotakis said that casting doubt on law, and acknowledging history selectively was not helpful, and called on Greek-Turkish relations to restart.

“As I said to (President) Erdogan, in a sincere exchange of views we held, I stressed that his visit to Thrace must improve relations between the two countries, rather than disturb them.”

Erdogan, who arrived in Greece on Thursday, is scheduled to visit Thrace on Friday before departing for Turkey.

Source: ANA-MPA

Leftist and anti-establishment groups, and political committees of Kurds and Turks held a protest march in central Athens against the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Thursday.

The protesters shouted slogans such as, “The people do not need protectors” and called for the release of nine Kurds and Turks arrested recently by Greek police in Athens on terrorism charges.

“We call on the people of Greece to defend the fighters from Turkey and express its international solidarity against the persecution of the imperialists and their associates, because the struggle of oppressed peoples is common,” a joint press release by the groups said.

It follows an earlier march by members of the Kurdistan Cultural Center. Carrying banners with “Freedom to Ocalan” (referring to the jailed Kurdish leader) and “Erdogan, dictator”, they protested Erdogan’s violence against the Kurdish people.

Initially the protesters rallied at Omonoia Square, then marched on Stadiou Street to Propylea on Panepistimiou, where they burned a poster with Erdogan’s image.

“He is the person who has carried out slaughters in Kurdistan for years, and his visit to Greece; the birthplace of democracy, is unacceptable,” the Cultural Center said in a statement.

Source: ANA-MPA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement on the Lausanne Treaty, is not in the right direction, Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday.

“It definitely was not a statement in the right direction, taking into account the Greek government’s position and the international community’s approach on the treaty,” he said responding to a journalist’s question.

He said the government will wait for the completion of Erdogan’s visit to Greece before it can draw a conclusion on its results.

Next week, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will be in Brussels for the European Council meeting, and will meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, so he can be briefed about the details of the meeting.

Source: ANA-MPA

The city of Chania in Crete has terrible memories of December 8, as two major disasters occurred in the space of only three years, with a loss of more than 300 lives.

On December 8, 1966, a ferry on the Chania-Piraeus route sank in the rocky islet of Falkonera. More than 200 people were killed in one of the worst naval disasters in modern Greek history.

The ferryboat “Heraklion” sailed from Souda Bay, Crete, to the port of Piraeus, with a crew of 73 and 191 passengers on board, at 8:00 pm on Dec. 7, 1966. Gale force winds of 9 Beaufort magnitude blew.

At around 2:00 am, almost halfway through the voyage, and while sailing south of the small rocky island of Falkonera, a refrigerator truck carrying oranges that was loosely strapped, started banging into one of the loading doors.

The door eventually opened and the truck plummeted into the sea, allowing the water to flood the ship’s holds. It took between 15 to 20 minutes for the vessel to capsize.

It was at 02:06 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, 1966, when the distress signal “SOS from Heraklion at 36° 52′ N 24° 08′ E. ‘We are sinking’” was sent out. The ferryboat sank, taking with it a total of 217 passengers and crew members. Only 30 passengers and 16 crew members were rescued.

On the same day, three years later, 85 passengers and crew members were killed when a plane on the flight between Chania and Athens crashed into a mountainous area of Keratea, Attica.

While on approach to Athens, and with its undercarriage retracted, the aircraft struck Mount Paneio at an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet. The weather at the time of the crash consisted of rain and high winds.

The crash of Flight 954 was the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history at the time it took place, a record it maintained until the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522 nearly thirty-six years later.

It is still the deadliest aviation accident involving a Douglas DC-6.,[1] and deadliest crash in the history of Olympic Airways.

It is not surprising that in the aftermath of the second disaster, the municipal council of Chania declared December 8 as a ‘Cursed Day’ for the town.

Greek Minister for Migration Yiannis Mouzalas did not exclude the possibility of deaths at the migrant camps this coming winter.

In an interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, Mouzalas was explicitly asked whether he can guarantee that nobody is going to die at Moria camp in Lesvos.

“No, I cannot do that. What I can guarantee is that we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening,” he said.

The minister clarified that preparations will be completed by December 15, at Moria.

“We are already sending more equipment and food to the camp. However, the key is the number of newcomers. If things remain as they are, then I think we have been well prepared.”

Mouzalas also said that the government is considering making advance booking in hotels in case more migrants arrive in the next days or weeks.

Regarding the issue of the resettlement of migrants and refugees in mainland Greece, Mouzalas said that the EU-Turkey agreement specifies that all asylum seekers, with the exception of minor exceptions, must stay in the island’s hotspots until their request is considered.

“The agreement is binding for both sides,” he said.

Mouzalas admitted that the EU-Turkey agreement is controversial but stressed that its implementation has led to a reduction in the number of newly arrived refugees by 97%.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Thrace on Friday; the second day of his official visit to Greece.

Accompanied by his wife Emine, and members of the Turkish government, Erdogan arrived in the town of Komotini, where a substantial portion of the population is Muslim.

He prayed at the mosque of Kir Mahalle in Komotini. More than 1,000 people gathered outside the mosque to greet him.

Greek officials will be watchful of what statements Erdogan might make regarding the Muslim minority, which has been one of several contentious issues dividing the two NATO allies and neighbors.

In the afternoon, Erdogan will will depart from Alexandroupolis airport for Turkey.

More than 250,000 euros will be awarded as a compensation to the sister of Alexis Grigoropoulos; the 15-year old Greek student who was murdered by a policeman in 2008.

The compensation was approved by the Greek police as a “monetary satisfaction for the psychological suffering suffered by the death of her brother”.

Areti Grigoropoulos and her mother have demanded that the Greek police compensate them for the murder of Alexis, and initially demanded 2.7 million euros.

According to the Greek Sunday Ethnos they settled for 250,000 in order to avoid a lengthy legal battle in court.

Sources close to the family say that in the nine years since the killing, the Greek authorities have not paid a single euro in compensation.

“The family of Alexis has already suffered a great deal and cannot afford to deal with this issue any more. That is why they agreed to make compromises… Financial compensation is not the antidote to human pain. But it is the least that the state can do for the family,” said a family friend to Ethnos newspaper.

Alexis was killed by two special officers in the Exarcheia district of central Athens, on 6 December 2008.

The murder of a young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, and with numerous rioters damaging property and attacking riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects.

A Greek geologist participates in the organized NASA eight-member mission to conduct meteorite research in Antarctica.

Yiannis Baziotis, an Assistant Professor at the University of Athens will remain in McMurdo’s base, in icy cold continent until January 2018.

He shares his impressions of the “spectacular beauty” of Antarctica writing on Facebook.

“It is a special experience for someone coming from the Mediterranean, let alone a Greek like me, to live the dream of participating in the ANSMET mission “.

The Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET) is a US-led field-based science project, that recovers meteorite specimens from Antarctica.

“In a place like McMurdo’s base, preparing the equipment, having breakfast at a table with people of at least five different nationalities, cycling on the icy and muddy “streets” around the base, visiting the Hutpoint, and seeing the seals glide like Australian surfers in the waves, is just a few of the experiences I experienced in the first days of the mission,” he wrote in his Facebook account.

ANSMET was established by NASA in 1976. Since then, missions to Antarctica have discovered and studied more than 21,000 specimens from meteorite stranding surfaces.

These specimens are a reliable, continuous source of new, non-microscopic extra-terrestrial material and support thousands of scientists from around the globe as they seek essential “ground-truth” concerning the materials that make up the asteroids, planets, and other bodies of our solar system.

At the historical center of Athens, in Plaka, the Benizelos Mansion or the House of Agia Philothei, is the oldest house in Athens.

It is now a museum that opened its doors to the public in February 2017.

In 1972, the building was taken over by the Ministry of Culture, and in 1999 it was given to the Holy Archdiocese of Athens. It was restored and made into a museum by funds from the European Union.

Built in the beginning of the 16th century and renovated at the end of the 17th, it is a characteristic two-storied mansion of the period of the Turkish occupation.

It has a hagiati (roofed verandah) on the floor, arches on the ground floor, and an interior yard with a well, spring and an olive press.

It belonged to Angelos Benizelos, the descendant of an aristocratic family and father of Agia Filothei.

Paraskevi, as was her name, after her brief marriage and widowhood, became a nun and built a monastery near her house, where the Archdiocese of Athens is today.

The museum tells the story of the Benizelos family and Agia Filothei and describes the habits and the traditions of the Athenian aristocracy before the revolution against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

Visitors can enjoy a walk among the building and discover its interactive digital applications.

The Greek government’s turn towards realism has raised hopes that foreign and domestic investors would grab the opportunity to transform Greece’s economy and help bring the country out of the decade-old crisis.

Already three massive investment projects are promising to create thousands of new jobs and inject billions into the Greek economy.

Hellinikon Airport

The development of the former Hellinikon airport in southern Athens by Lamda Development aims at the creation of a world class Metropolitan Park covering an area of 2,000,000 sq.m.

The project constitutes the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. The investment amounts to € 8 bn., and is expected to create 10,000 permanent jobs during the construction period and 75,000 jobs during its maturity.

The investment will include a diverse range of residential communities, hotels, shopping centers, family entertainment venues, museums and cultural venues, health and wellness centers.

According to estimates, the investment is expected to contribute to the country’s GDP by 2.4% until the development’s completion date, while contributing a total of over € 14 bn. in taxes to the Greek State over the same timeframe.

Ethniki Asfalistiki

The acquisition of Ethniki Insurance, Greece’s oldest insurer, by American-Dutch consortium Calamos-EXIN is not only a significant investment in its own right, but it could serve as a catalyst for renewed interest of the US investor community to Greece.

Speaking exclusively to Greek Reporter from the Capital Link forum in New York, Greece’s Economy and Development minister Dimitri Papadimitriou stressed that the Ethniki Insurance deal is a private transaction between National Bank of Greece, Ethniki’s parent company, and Calamos-Exin, but it has the Greek government’s full support.

“It is a major multimillion dollar deal that would help the Greek economy and it has our full support,” the minister noted from New York.

The minister also said that the government invites investors to Greece as the Greek Economy is recovering.

The bid by U.S.-based Calamos Investments, which has $20 billion under management, and EXIN Partners won the competition to acquire Ethniki Insurance last summer.

In an exclusive interview with Greek Reporter last September, Calamos Investments CEO John Koudounis said that acquiring Ethniki Insurance “made business sense, but also I was proud to try to help the country in some way”.

He said other Greek-American investors interested in Greece were watching closely.

Koudounis also revealed that the Greek American fund is also looking for other investment opportunities in Greece, and will strive for further growth of Ethniki Asfalistiki.

US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt also spoke to Greek Reporter about the importance of US investments for the Greek economy. Watch the video:

Regional airports

Fraport Greece has already started investing into the development of 14 Greek regional airports.

The development plans foresee the modernization, development and/or expansion of the airports’ infrastructure as the case may be which include works from the refurbishment of existing terminals to the construction of new landside and airside facilities.

In total, Fraport Greece will invest around 400 million in the development of the airports’ infrastructure until 2021.

Major development works to be implemented during the first four years of the concession period include building five new passenger terminals – at the airports in Thessaloniki, Kerkira (Corfu), Kefalonia, Kos, and Mytilene (Lesvos) – and modifications at other airports.

Speaking on the importance of not only announcing investments, but on their fast implementation and activation by the Greek government, Declan Costello, of the European Commission, noted that speed is of the essence on realizing and approving the planned investments.

“Speed is very important at this crucial moment,” stressed the European Commission representative.

A 55-year-old hiker was killed at Mount Olympus on Monday, two days after the death of another climber, on Saturday.

The man and another hiker fell off a cliff and were badly injured in the Kalogeros area of the mountain.

Emergency services that reached the area after receiving the distress call from the second climber, failed to revive the 55-year old who died on the spot from head injuries.

This is the third time since Saturday that rescue services have been called to assist trapped hikers on Mount Olympus.

A 25-year-old man died on Saturday; and two hikers were injured after a fall on Sunday.

Members of the Communist-affiliated labor union PAME sprayed red painted slogans on the walls of the headquarters of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) in Athens, on Tuesday.

The slogans called for a minimum wage of 751 euros per month, and resistance against the alleged plans by the government and industrialists to limit the right to strike.

A PAME spokesman, speaking to the Athens News Agency, refused to condemn the spraying of the walls, and added that industrialists want to cut wages, undermine collective labour agreements and place limits on the right to strike.

PAME is organizing a nation-wide strike and a day of protests, on Thursday.

A football game in Limassol was interrupted for close to two hours on Monday evening after clashes between rival fans, which broke out after the injury of a ball boy by a firecracker.

The game between Limassol’s AEL and Nicosia side Apoel was initially interrupted in the 39th minute after visiting fans hurled a fire cracker, which injured a ball boy. The score at the time was 0-0.

The youth; reportedly belonging to AEL’s under-15 football team, was rushed to hospital but his condition was not immediately known.

The injury was followed by a rain of fire crackers and missiles hurled by Apoel supporters onto the pitch, forcing match official Demetris Mashias to interrupt the game and head for the dressing rooms.

The game restarted 30 minutes later, but was almost immediately interrupted again when rival fans invaded the ground and clashed on the track behind the south goal for a few minutes, amid a cloud of smoke from flares.

They dispersed after riot police intervened.

Mashias and the players returned to the dressing rooms for a second time with everyone expecting that it would be abandoned.

However, after over an hour, the game restarted, with most fans having already left. The final score remained 0-0.

Source: Cyprus-Mail

Two of five Colombian nationals suspected of stealing expensive medical equipment from Greek hospitals earlier this summer, have been arrested in Germany and Colombia on the basis of international arrest warrants, Greek police announced on Monday.

They said that a 50-year-old believed to have carried out the break-ins and thefts was arrested in Bogota; while a 25-year-old woman that had acted as recipient of the parcels of medical equipment stolen from Greece, was arrested in Frankfurt.

The two must now be extradited to Greece, following completion of the necessary processes. The worldwide search continues for the remaining three suspects; identified by Greek police, through channels of international and European police cooperation.

The gang was responsible for lifting expensive medical equipment from Agios Savvas hospital in Athens, and the hospitals of Lamia, Larissa and Volos in May and June of this year.

Authorities in Colombia have recovered two endoscopes stolen from Agios Savvas, and two taken from the hospital in Larissa, which have since been returned.

Source: ANA-MPA

Spyros Asdrahas; one of the most prominent Greek historians, has died at the age of 84.

Asdrahas was born in Argostoli, Kefalonia in 1933. He studied at the School of Philosophy in Athens, and at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, in Paris.

He worked at the Neohellenic Research Center (1961-65); École Pratique (1974-84); the University of Paris (since 1982, where he became Associate Professor), and the National Research Foundation (since 1987).

Asdrahas also served as research director of the National Bank of Greece’s History Committee; was a member of the Board of Directors of the Research and Education Foundation of Emporiki Bank, and vice chairman of the Ionian University Steering Committee.

Among his works were Makriyannis Memoirs (1957); The economic structure of the Balkan countries, 15th-19th centuries (1979); The Greek Society and Economy, (1982); George Typaldos: History of the Ionian Academy (1982); Economy and Attitudes (1988), and Greek Economic History (2003).

A dynamite stick was used to set off the powerful explosion that occurred early on Tuesday, at a petrol station in the coastal town of Anavyssos in Attica.

No injuries were reported but there was serious damage to the petrol station and to the nearby houses and shops.

The owner of the petrol station is the president of the petrol station owner’s federation of Greece.

The Attica Police blackmail department is conducting an investigation.

Source: ANA-MPA