THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY

Teacher Dude posts a photograph and some words about the far-right politician Kyriakos Velopolous and the party he is a member of (LAOS). Go and read his post and the Kathimerini article he links to.

Nice to know that such fine, upstanding educated folk are representing the people of Thessaloniki in parliament.

Politics

Yvette Jarvis, the first black woman to hold public office in Greece, is looking to win a second term. This time she is affiliated with New Democracy rather than Pasok (socialist) but as she told Athens News, her campaign remains unchanged.

improving life in Athens for all its residents, including immigrants who have no vote and no real say in local government

She explains the system of local government in Greece

The way the system works now, a third of the council is useless because only the majority [two-thirds] wins. This means that ideas from the other side - unless they are truly accepted by the majority - never get done even though they might be good for the community. If my candidate wins the majority and I am on the inside, I will be able to get my ideas heard

There are many issues that Yvette Jarvis wishes to address if elected. Rubbish, traffic and crime as well as initiatives

to improve downtrodden neighbourhoods and promote multiculturalism and tolerance among residents

Immigration and multiculturalism are a reality in Athens today and I believe the city still has the opportunity to learn from the past experiences of other places. There is still the chance to embrace and celebrate diversity rather than reject and marginalise it.

We know where that leads.
Nowhere.

As Yvette said in the Athens News

We need to start building bridges within the community. Yes, Athens has changed and it can’t go back to the way it was 25 years ago when everyone knew each other but I think we can make the neighbourhood again into a neighbourhood

Politics

The storm continues over the nomination of the Muslim woman, Gulbeyaz Karahasan as a candidate for the prefect of Xanthi-Kavala-Drama in Northern Greece. She has now been accused of making statements to the Turkish newspaper Vatan saying

that the Muslims of Thrace are Turks, while she declared that her idol is former Turkish PM Tansu Ciler

She denies the allegations and Pasok, who nominated her as candidate, claim that this is a campaign to undermine her candidacy. Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, the Pasok National Council secretary said

that a methodical attack against Ms Karahasan and PASOK has been taking place over the last few weeks, which is being organised by bigoted groups that wish to bring the country to the past

Thodoros Pangalos, MP and member of PASOK’s Political Council responded to the allegations made against her, by saying

I consider outrageous the fact that a Greek citizen who wanted to be nominated is being treated this way. She has the right to claim the votes of her compatriots without being subjected to particular tests about matters that constitute her rudimentary rights. I believe that those who raise such matters are operating outside the context of the Constitution and are violating our political culture, and I did not want to participate in this discussion in any way. Our country has signed 11 successive contracts concerning the protection of minorities within the context of the Council of Europe. In all those contracts, the countries undertook the obligation to respect the self-definition of the people who make up the minority, meaning that they have the right to believe they are what they want

The Pasok parliamentary spokesperson Charis Kastanidis added

If a certain part of the Media dedicated as much time to the workers of the Phosphoric Fertilisers Industry or the unemployed of Naoussa Spinning Mills as they have to Ms Karahasan, the unemployment problem may have been resolved

Full article on the allegatons from ERT here Full article on the reactions from ERT here

Technorati Tags: greece, muslim, minority rights

Politics

In the case of the kidnapping of 28 Pakistani men by Greek and British agents, we have this ridiculous comment from Vyron Ploydoras, the Public Order minister

Mutual kidnapping is the national sport in which members of the most amiable Pakistani community in our country indulge

He came up with that gem in a parlimentary session and was pulled up on it by the leader of Left Coalition Synaspismos, Alekos Alavanos who said:

Stop this story-telling and racism. The [prosecutor’s] report rules out the possibility that the kidnappings were carried out by the Pakistani community

The opposition party spokesman Nikos Athanassakis also said his comment was

racist and unacceptable

After that exchange

Alavanos asked Polydoras if the British and Greek governments had discussed the possibility of covering up the affair. “I do not know and even if I did, I would not tell you,” Polydoras replied.

It seems that there is another mature and responsible minister in charge of public order in Greece. The previous one Giorgos Voulgarakis, now minister of culture, is accused in this lawsuit of shielding guilty parties and lying in Parliament about the incident.

Full article in Kathimerini

Technorati Tags: greece

Politics