Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks A severe frost struck all types of stone fruit crops across Greece's major production zones yesterday and this morning Local weather stations indicate that temperatures in the coldest later-producing regions of Velventos and Giannitsa dropped to as low as -5,4°C in some specific areas which is Greece's primary production zone for table peaches and nectarines was in a more advanced blooming stage due to its earlier seasonality and appears to have been significantly affected as we have recorded temperatures ranging from -1°C to below -3°C in certain geographical pockets," notes Mr director of the agricultural cooperative ASEPOP Naoussa As he explains: "The bloom of stone fruits was at all different stages of development meaning we had buds that had not yet opened and others already in the petal fall and early fruit formation stages as even -1°C can be disastrous in such cases." only a few growers managed to apply protective sprays before the frost set in and a clearer assessment of the damage will be possible in the coming days It is still too early for a complete evaluation of the situation Some small fruits that have already formed may appear unaffected now but they will remain stunted and fail to develop properly our cooperative members f ocused on planting peaches Several consecutive years of tree removals have helped improve product prices encouraging growers to return to peach cultivation we provide guidance on selecting red-fleshed peach varieties as well as apricot varieties resistant to sharka If there are no further weather disruptions we expect to begin harvesting apricots between May 15 and 20 and peaches by late May," the director of the Greek cooperative concludes For more information:Vasilis MpougasASEPOP NaoussaTel: +30 233 204 3206Mob: +30 697 911 7397Email: [email protected]https://www.asepopn.gr/en/ FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com the Greek Army liberated and reclaimed the vital town of Giannitsa in Macedonia It was one of the bloodiest battles of the First Balkan War and the sacrifices made by the Greek Soldiers opened the road towards the ultimate prize 188 Greeks were killed and another 785 wounded Thessaloniki would be liberated within the next seven days READ MORE: Dendias on Turkey sanctions: EU showed solidarity with Belarus and must show solidarity with Cyprus. The first round of 2018 Motocross European Championship 65 and 85 South East zone started this weekend at Giannitsa | Copyright 2025 FIM Europe | Terms of use - Privacy statement | violinist Tobias Liu ’26 and violist Erin Nishi ’25 will perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Yale Symphony Orchestra — a piece the ensemble will perform in Greece for their spring tour.  Friday’s program opens with Carlos Simon’s “Holy Dance” from “Four Black American Dances,” followed by the Mozart and Brahms’ Fourth Symphony in the second half “Four Black American Dancers” reflects Simon’s engagement with Black musical traditions through contemporary classical music.  “We just had our first rehearsals this week and Tobias and Erin sound amazing,” said Keeley Brooks ’25 “I think the orchestra is really excited to get to play with them on Friday Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante was written for violin viola and orchestra and has remained one of the most celebrated fusions between symphony and concerto the piece is special because it is not merely an arrangement for two solo parts and an orchestra accompaniment; it fosters a “passionate” dialogue between violinist “The piece is able to capture such a deep range of emotions in the way that’s almost more like his operas — really pushing the boundaries of what the concerto was at the time,” Liu said “Mozart really takes the piece away from a pure virtuosic show-off to a way of storytelling that is evident in the piece.”  While Nishi and Liu first performed the concerto together last year for the annual William Waite Concerto Competition their connection with the piece and to each other spans many years.  she has juggled preparations for her upcoming viola performances alongside auditions for master’s programs on the violin.  “I definitely think that playing viola makes my violin playing better: it teaches me to listen for a bigger sound and a warmer sound,” she said “It makes me use the violin in a way that’s not for granted making me think about the constraints and balances of the instrument Nishi first picked up the viola for her first-year class “The Performance of Chamber Music,” when there was a shortage of violists She was first introduced to the Mozart piece when she was invited to perform it with the Berkeley College Orchestra that same year her stand partner who became a mentor for her musical journey at Yale.  “She left a super strong impression on me because she was super kind and welcoming,” said Nishi Liu called Nishi his mentor and described her as someone to look up to at both a musical and personal level. Rehearsing for a duet performance in Woolsey and preparing for the upcoming tour Nishi and Liu have been rehearsing together frequently.  Liu said that he has grappled with the challenge of finding time to rehearse while managing a rigorous academic course load.  you can spend eight hours in the practice room and feel like you get worse One of the strategies my teacher taught me was to force yourself to set aside at least one hour every day and commit to that hour regardless of what else is going on in my life,” he said.  the group has been doing a lot of slow intonation work which “lets their musical preferences come out” and allows them to listen to each other more closely.  While the soloists have been working particularly intensely the entire orchestra has been rehearsing to prepare an extensive amount of repertoire for the upcoming tour the programming committee and Boughton decided to take two separate programs including the three pieces at Friday’s concert.  which they will perform in Skopje and Volos consists of Richard Strauss’ “Don Juan,” the Sinfonia Concertante John Williams’ “Star Wars,” Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” and encores by Simon Duke Ellington and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.  includes Korngold’s “Sea Hawk Overture,” Simon’s “Four Black American Dances – Waltz,” Duke Ellington’s “River Suite” and the Brahms symphony from Friday’s concert.  the repertoire is a diverse mixture of American and European music.  “As an ambassador of Yale and an American university I think it’s important to take American music and I’m interested to see how that’s received in Greece,” he said.  The orchestra’s goal of bringing American music to more audiences seems to be working the orchestra received news that the concert in Giannitsa was sold out.  The performance is set to be displayed on a large screen in the city square Proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to buy a new piano for the local music school The orchestra also plans to invite over 150 school children to attend the dress rehearsal of the concert.  In addition to playing at larger music venues the orchestra will perform at least three outreach concerts “It’s great for the Yale students because they will get to learn more about Greek culture and get to know people rather than just performing in big concert halls and staying in hotels and visiting tourist sights,” Boughton said.  Unlock discounted publishing that highlights your organization and the peer-reviewed research and clinical experiences it produces Find out how channels are organized and operated including details on the roles and responsibilities of channel editors Offering a variety of advertising and sponsorship options for reaching influential specialists from targeted demographic splits efficient publishing and peer reviewing experience without sacrificing publication times Generate broad awareness and deliver relevant peer-reviewed clinical experiences directly to potential customers Dedicated Cranial Radiosurgery: Clinical Experience with New & Innovative SRS Technologies Real-Time Adaptive Motion Management on Helical and Robotic RT Platforms Please note that by doing so you agree to be added to our monthly email newsletter distribution list Efforts to pin blame for disaster on human error rather than a failed system are set to backfire after union warnings on safety First came the mourning, then the handover of loved ones, then the funerals. On Friday it was Athina Katsara, the young mother of a toddler, carried in a white coffin out of Katerini’s church in the first funeral of the first “angel” to meet death in Greece’s worst ever train crash. like so many of the disaster’s 57 victims in her early 20s was buried in a sealed white coffin in northern Giannitsa And then it will be others – all identified through DNA samples provided by relatives – who will be laid to rest at the end of a three-day official mourning period for the nation but only the start of profound sadness for the families involved In the days since Intercity 62 – travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki with at least 350 on board – collided head-on with a cargo train hurtling along the same piece of track mourning in the words of its own president “an unimaginable tragedy” Most killed were university students in the prime of life returning home from a public holiday marking the start of Orthodox Lent was such that rescuers combing the site last week struggled to find the remains of victims now thought to have died in temperatures that exceeded 1,300C when carriages exploded into flames Retrieved bodies were invariably charred beyond recognition more than half remain in hospital with six on life support Survivors described being ejected through windows and struggling through acrid smoke and flames to jump to safety from derailed wagons that had slammed into a field Few train accidents in Europe in recent memory have been as bad; few have been felt so widely (Albania and Cyprus who lost their own are both also officially mourning this weekend); and none to date have stoked as much anger or soul-searching among Greeks In the modern age of electrified locomotives and automated safety systems It is one that has been increasingly levelled at the government as protesters have taken to the streets The site of the head-on collision and derailment near the city of Larissa last week in the midst of a furious grief,” says Fotini Tsalikoglou one of the country’s foremost professors of psychology “It’s a tragedy that has made people feel vulnerable and unprotected There’s a pervasive sense that it could have been any one of us.” For Tsalikoglou the horrific manner in which people perished – with relatives unable to bid goodbye to the bodies of kith and kin – has made the loss of life in what is viewed as an accident that could have been prevented “Rituals that have existed since Homer’s time because it is as if a life didn’t exist,” she told the Observer “Everyone has been able to identify with that.” Before most of the victims were even born, railway unions were sounding the alarm. Clarion calls had intensified after the company’s privatisation as part of asset stripping during the country’s debt crisis the federation of retired railroad workers had warned of the inherent dangers in a system running on empty overstretched staff and lack of proper training unions predicted it was only a matter of time before another crash occurred if “responsible agencies consciously choose to ignore our demands and warnings that go back years” With the network relying on employees working manually – usually through walkie-talkies – the system has been long regarded as the deadliest in Europe Britain’s office for road and rail recently described it as posing the highest level of passenger risk on the continent Free weekly newsletterThe most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment A demonstration in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on Saturday Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty ImagesHad procedures collectively known as the European train control system been installed – as intended three years ago – experts are convinced the tragedy could have been averted because automatic braking and other safety measures would have kicked in the senior government official overseeing the contract resigned in disgust late last year at what were described as “unjustifiable delays” The move came amid murmurings of corruption in the transport ministry a department tasked with handling huge EU-funded projects On Wednesday the transport minister announced he would assume political responsibility and step down acknowledging the centre-right government’s reform efforts had failed prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has blamed the passenger train being diverted to the wrong track on “tragic human error” And with his four-year term coming to an end with elections due this spring he has pledged that “responsibilities will be assigned” The locomotives were travelling along the same track for close to 15 minutes before crashing into each other at 11.23pm on Tuesday the main junction through which the passenger train had passed could have prevented the crash had he made the right point change who has admitted the oversight according to his lawyer will testify before a magistrate on Sunday after his attorney But amid the anger and grief Greeks are not willing to accept that one man is to blame in a system that should never have placed such responsibility on a single individual in the first place “We’re all human and we all make mistakes,” said Alexis Pappas attending a fiery protest in Athens’ central Syntagma square “We’re not machines but we have machines that should have been used This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media In the weekend of 4-5 April the South East European Motocross 65 and 85 cc Championship event was held in Giannitsa (Greece) The event showed a very good cooperation among all the parties involved: FIM Europe Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation and organizers who carried out all their work in perfect conditions     Three thousand people gathered in Giannitsa MX Park to enjoy the thrilling races the MX kid riders in EMX65 and EMX85 were about to perform Timetables were respected and the races were interesting despite there were not many riders: 37 riders from 6 different countries were present despite the raining that was pouring on since Sunday morning.                EMX85                        Croatian Nikola Hranic (Husqvarna) was the winner of the day in EMX85 having won last race in front of Bulgarian rider Alex Dimitrov (KTM) who managed to finish second after a third in the first race.Bulgarian rider Julian Georgiev (KTM) won the first EMX85 race but was only third in the second race Hranic starts off the championship by gathering 47 points to top the standings in front of Georgiev and Dimitrov who won 45 and 42 points respectively.   Locals from mainland regions of Greece took to the streets over the weekend to protest against the transfer of migrants from Greek islands to towns in Northern Greece Numerous groups of protesters from various areas of the country are furious that migrants are now being transported from the Aegean to Macedonia which started a few weeks back with residents of Vrasna refusing to allow around 400 migrants to settle in their area and were turned back and taken to Evia rallied against the transfer of migrants from Lesvos and Samos to sites around their homes We have had enough,” a local from Giannitsa told Skai television as they tried to stop the migrants from settling in “Around 60 other migrants have already been brought to Giannitsa and we have had many problems,” the local resident added another protest was held against the arrival of around 30 migrants roughly 900 people were transferred from Greek islands to sites on the mainland and the government has said it wants to relocate 20,000 by the end of the year It is not only mainlanders who are protesting as over the weekend there were also locals from Leros and Kos island who stopped migrants from getting off a boat and trying to make their way to the camps A baby born in November 1964 in the Greek clinic of Giannitsa Harry was declared dead a few days after his birth his Greek Australian family claims that Harry’s death story is highly suspicious and they are convinced their son and brother never died The family claims that baby Harry was stolen as part of human trafficking which existed in Greek hospitals during the 1950s and 1960s it was Monday morning when I gave birth to a healthy baby boy and my husband and I were both very excited to meet our firstborn,” Ms Olga Tavlaridis told Neos Kosmos She was only 18 years old when she had her first child but her family’s happiness turned into a nightmare when the nurses told the young mother that little Harry might have developed jaundice and it was best for him to be transferred to the hospital in Thessaloniki so that he could receive better care Upon their arrival to the hospital in Thessaloniki the family claims that the nurses’ actions “just didn’t add up” which led them to believe that something suspicious was happening behind the scenes READ MORE: Facebook group for Greek orphans seeking answers she waited for hours to see the doctor and nurses Nobody came to check on her and the baby until the late hours of the night,” Ms Tavlaridis’ son my mum recalls two women sitting behind a door in the hallway and the nurses coming in and out of the room asking her why she was there and why she had been transferred to the hospital with her child the nurses offered to baptise the baby by lifting it up in the air “just in case something happened to him.” The two nurses rubbed the baby’s body with ouzo claiming it was a treatment for jaundice inexperienced and did not question the nurses’ practices and recommendations READ MORE: New adoption legislation fast tracks the process in Greece The family claims that it was likely that the nurses were trying to put the baby in a deep sleep to appear motionless When they gave little Harry back to the mother The young mother told the nurses that her son appeared to be unwell The head nurse was called in and told the mother the baby had died She proceeded to take the baby from his mother’s arms and left without giving further explanations to the family; nor did she offer the body for burial “The nurses told my parents that their child had died suddenly and that they had to bury it at the back of the church My parents never saw Harry’s body nor were they able to give him a proper funeral and the lack of evidence of death or body to bury leads us to think that Harry may still be alive,” Mr Tavliaridis said “My parents went on to have me and my two siblings but years later we discovered that this hospital and the clinic that they were involved with when they had baby Harry had engaged in baby trafficking death certificates and adopting babies out to other families; and those families would pay a fee to take on the new child A lot of those families didn’t even know that they were adopting a stolen child “They thought they were getting a child who was unwanted.” READ MORE: Adoptions in Greece go up by 77.8 per cent while birth rates keep plummeting Mr Tavlaridis is urging anyone who might know something about this case or similar cases “This possible reunion with our long-lost brother would mean a lot to us but it would mean a lot more to my mum and dad who have had a great life here in Australia but to this day cannot rest until they find out the truth about what happened to my brother,” Mr Tavlaridis said Through DNA testing and similar facial features look like one of the members of the Tavlaridis family “Harry’s ‘death’ story is fishy We are offering free DNA testing for any male born around November 1964 (birthdates are usually guessed or falsified so may be slightly different) and has facial features resembling someone in our family 23andme and GEDmatch hoping to help identify some connection with my brother.” Harry is the son of Angelo and Olga Tavlaridis The family migrated to South Australia and live permanently in Adelaide Giannitsa is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece “Please help us by watching and sharing our story below We need to find our brother so any assistance would be greatly appreciated,” Mr Tavlaridis said For further information about Harry Tavliaridis, visit www.tavliaridis.com and contact. lookingforharry@gmail.com The tournament kicked off on Saturday morning in the grounds named after legendary players of PAOK This season’s edition is dedicated to PAOK Football Prints as all participating teams participating are members of the “Double-Headed Eagle’s” network of academies They are joined by the PAOK youth squads who take part out of competition and won’t advance to the knockout round The youngsters were treated to a pleasant surprise in the afternoon, as senior players Giannis Mystakidis, Νikos Korovesis, Charis Charisis and Dimitris Pelkas visited the tournament They had their photographs taken with the diminutive players spoke to them and gave them plenty of advice Here are all results of Day 1 of the tournament that is being held in PAOK FC’s NOVA Sports Centre ANASTASIADIS ground: 11.00 PΑΟΚ (‘07) – PAS Florina 5-0 ANASTASIADIS ground: 12.00 Mikrasiatikos – ΑΕ Didymoticho 0-2 ANASTASIADIS ground: 17.00 PΑΟΚ (‘07) – Mikrasiatikos 4-0 ANASTASIADIS ground: 18.00 PAS Florina – ΑΕ Didymoticho 1-2 FURTULA ground: 11.00 PΑΟΚ (‘08) – Anagennisi Giannitsa 3-2 FURTULA ground: 12.00 Protathlites Pefka – PΑΟΚ Komotini 3-1 FURTULA ground: 17.00 PΑΟΚ (‘08) – PΑΟΚ Komotini 6-2 FURTULA ground: 18.00 Anagennisi Giannitsa – Protathlites Pefka 3-4 TERZANIDIS ground: 10.00 PΑΟΚ (‘05-‘06) – Anagennisi Giannitsa 1-1 TERZANIDIS ground: 11.00 Nestos – Kila Kozani 5-0 TERZANIDIS ground: 12.00 Lamia FC – PΑΟΚ Komotini 3-0 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 16.00 PΑΟΚ (‘05-‘06) – Nestos 0-1 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 17.00 Anagennisi Giannitsa – Lamia FC 2-3 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 18.00 PΑΟΚ Komotini – Kila Kozani 0-4 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 10.00 PΑΟΚ (‘06) – Mikrasiatikos 2-0 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 11.00 Protathlites Pefka – Apollon Larissa 9-0 APOSTOLIDIS ground: 12.00 Kronos Kastoria – Lefki Xanthi 5-0 TERZANIDIS ground: 16.00 PΑΟΚ (‘06) – Protathlites Pefka 6-0 TERZANIDIS ground: 17.00 Mikrasiatikos – Kronos Kastoria 1-3 TERZANIDIS ground: 18.00 Apollon Larissa – Lefki Xanthi 2-3 PARIDIS ground: 10.00 PΑΟΚ (‘03) – Anagennisi Giannitsa 10-0 PARIDIS ground: 11.00 Doxa Drama – Apollon Larissa 8-0 PARIDIS ground: 12.00 Lamia FC – Lefki Xanthi 2-5 PARIDIS ground: 16.00 PΑΟΚ (‘03) – Doxa Drama 10-1 PARIDIS ground: 17.00 Lamia FC – Anagennisi Giannitsa 2-0 PARIDIS ground: 18.00 Apollon Larissa – Lefki Xanthi 0-9 IOSIFIDIS ground: 10.00 PΑΟΚ (‘04) – Millya PΑΟΚ 8-0 IOSIFIDIS ground: 11.00 Kila Kozani – Mikrasiatikos 2-0 IOSIFIDIS ground: 12.00 M.Alexandros Drama – PΑΟΚ Komotini 0-2 IOSIFIDIS ground: 16.00 PΑΟΚ (‘04) – Kila Kozani 10-0 IOSIFIDIS ground: 17.00 M.Alexandros Drama – Millya PΑΟΚ 3-4 IOSIFIDIS ground: 18.00 PΑΟΚ Komotini – Mikrasiatikos 0-2 KOUDAS ground: 10.00 Millya PΑΟΚ – Anagennisi Giannitsa 0-2 KOUDAS ground: 11.00 PΑΟΚ (‘02) – Kila Kozani 4-2 KOUDAS ground: 12.00 Lamia FC – Lefki Xanthi 0-1 SARAFIS ground: 16.00 Millya PΑΟΚ – PΑΟΚ (‘02) 0-8 SARAFIS ground: 17.00 Anagennisi Giannitsa – Lamia FC 1-1 SARAFIS ground: 18.00 Kila Kozani – Lefki Xanthi 0-0 SARAFIS ground: 10.00 PΑΟΚ (02’) – Millya PΑΟΚ 0-1 SARAFIS ground: 11.00 Niki Christos – Kronos Kastoria 0-1 SARAFIS ground: 12.00 Agia Paraskevi Volos – PΑΟΚ Komotini 3-1 KOUDAS ground: 16.00 PΑΟΚ (‘02) – Niki Christos 0-0 KOUDAS ground: 17.00 Millya PΑΟΚ – Agia Paraskevi Volos 3-1 KOUDAS ground: 18.00 Kronos Kastoria – Niki Christos 1-0 Browse paokfc.gr’s exclusive photography from Day 1 of the 8th «Panagiotis Katsouris» tournament From the first moment Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu emerged he was a challenge in the political scene to Greece’s neighbouring country Whispers were heard in almost every step: “He’s Greek” “His grandfather’s name was Heliopoulos.” “He’s Greek.” “His grandfather’s name was Heliopoulos.” “He’s a favourite among Greeks.” They even called him “Ekrem Giannis” How could the name… “Yannis” be Imamoglu I will become like them.” He sees petty politics behind such rumours he spoke to the hearts of an audience who were of different political social and religious persuasions and became the “Porter” of the City once again It proved that approximately 17 million inhabitants of Istanbul are mainly concerned about whether they will be able to live in better conditions the day after rather than whether the mayor is… a Trojan horse for the Greeks to take back the City people try to find out if he is even a little philhellene where Imamoglou was raised and went to school an enormous bronze statue stands proudly on the beach This lyre and the traditional Pontian songs To that end he is an excellent dancer and never misses an opportunity to prove it Looking back to 2016 when Imamoglu was the mayor of Beylikduzu having a population of around 410,000) municipality on the European side of Istanbul Together with a large delegation he visited the holy city of Giannitsa a place to worship the Mausoleum of the Ottoman Bey and military commander Gazi Evrenos as he visited his counterpart at the town hall who was the president of the Pontian club “Euxinos Leklos Leklos Yiannitses” Apostolos Aslanidis “Are you Karadeniz?” he asks him Imamoglu is thrown from his chair like a spring Kara-deniz is the Black Sea in Turkish and that’s how (Karadeniz) the Pontians are called The two men quickly began an emotional and nostalgic conversation about the villages of Platanas Aslanidis then showed him around Giannitsa and took him to the settlement of Nea Trebizond His eyes watered when Aslanidis explainsed to him that the design of the square is the same as that of “Gyaur Meydan” which today is called “Ataturk Alani,”  and is located at the central square of Trebizond Imamoglou was presented with a photo taken in 1900 of the Preschool of Trebizond built by his grandfather Apostolos Iliopoulos He also had a surprise in store for him: An authentic Pontic feast in which “Caradenese” enjoyed the lyre and danced to his heart’s content to the amazement of the Pontians who saw him he made certain to reciprocate and sent a jersey of Trabzonspor which is the local team of Trabzon (for which Imamoglou played football for up to the semi-professional level) with the number 61 and the name “Iliopoulos” in memory of his grandfather Aslanidis This “Iliopoulos” discovered by some Turkish journalists and – urged by the paraphilology that wanted to see Imamoglu as being of Greek origin – in addition to the fact that the shirt had the number 61 (the number that Imamoglu himself always played with) apparently they “translated” it in their own terms which has made him maintain strong ties with everything that has to do with the wider region the Greek element did not disappear with the Great Eradication with the preserved marble inscription in Greek: “This holy mosque of the Muses of the Virgins was erected at the expense of the Muse-loving patriotic sons Alex Mavroidi Georgiou Dimitriou Panagiotou Konstantinou Ioannou if the country invokes God’s blessing and then the plaque is attached with a resolution of memory and gratitude The people of Trabzon who go to visit the land of their ancestors are surprised to find that even in the primary schools of the area The Pontic dialect that forms the linguistic bridge between ancient and modern Greek it is no coincidence that Imamoglou knows Pontic and a little Greek just as it is no coincidence that he was described as “Greek” and crypto-Christian the issue was raised by the (close to Erdogan’s AKP) mayor of Esenler in the City who in 2019 had stirred up a storm of reactions when he said that Imamoglu was elected by the residents of Trabzon he was then characterised by the Güoksu executive of Meral Aksener’s Good Party saying: “Shame on those who will vote for them in Trebizond Suleiman Soylu tonight must remove the mayor of Esenler from his duties This scoundrel who called the residents of Trebizond Greeks must be removed the hashtag #Trabzonlular (inhabitants of Trabzon that is) became the first trend in the country as the discussions and arguments flared up: Are the majority of Trabzon residents Greek who converted to Islam for fear of persecution Imamoglu felt he was losing the battle with such absurdities He was forced to assert everywhere that his family tree goes eight generations back and consists of Turks and to also pray publicly in Istanbul in order to somehow entertain the rumours and convince even those sceptics that he was not put by the Greeks to… to conquer the city then politics definitely goes through football Imamoglu has been a player and since 2012 an administrative factor and member of the Board of Directors of Trabzonspor 2012 is the same year that the beloved team of Trabzon will manage to put in their ranks and make a “flag” of the Greek striker Fanis Geka ending a multi-year attempt to acquire him from Akhisar’s team Gekas will become the favorite striker of Pontus teams will become the team with the richest Greek roster in Turkey as the – favorite of the stands – captain of the Greek National Team Tasos Bakassetas and Siopis Imamoglu had in Pontos teams and especially Trabzonspor Before his master’s degree at the University of Istanbul Imamoglou studied in the occupied territories of Cyprus There he continued his football career as the main goalkeeper of the Turk Ocagi Limasol team of Limassol Makarios and the “peace operation” he acquired a special relationship with Megalonisos which he himself calls “The Struggle for Cyprus” and got him into… trouble depicts Rauf Denktash and the signing of the London Agreement Fazil Koutchuk (Chairman of the Cyprus is Turkish” and its vice-president until 1973) and Denktas which essentially deified what preceded it and paved the way for the invasion of “Attila” in Cyprus caused an explosion of anger in the nationalist and Islamist circles of Turkey and became a topic of discussion in the Turkish media for a long time especially when members of the “Grey Wolves” » they vandalised it erasing the face of Archbishop Makarios – his presence after earlier having visited Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace to give him explanations and get the president’s “OK” for the preservation of the monument the Turkish president himself had condemned Imamoglu for erecting “a monument to a Greek leader who called for the massacre of all Turkish Cypriots” after thanking the “Grey Wolves” party the BVR and Meral Alperen for their support spun a nationalist narrative in which he called the invasion of “Attila” a “peace operation” who drowned Cyprus in blood and “enemy” Makarios: “When we talk about Cyprus there is the peace operation and we remember with respect the late Etcevit the then prime minister of our country who took the brave step I also remember with respect and gratitude the late Erbakan spiritual unity and national unity [during the invasion period].” He explained that the monument in its original form was larger and contained pieces with Ecevit and Erbakan and the “struggle” for Cyprus from the Ottoman period to the present day he said: “We just depicted a deal with the enemy the establishment of the TRNC and the peace operation of 1974 The London Agreement was the strongest foundation for the 1974 operation.” See Also The enigmatic Ain Dara temple & the giant footsteps of the Gods the one following the devastating fire at Istanbul’s historic Greek hospital the mayor of Istanbul came under fire from Turkey’s opposition media for a… phone call This phone call by the angry Imamoglu was made to the president of the Valouklis Foundation speaking to the pro-government newspaper “Sabah Daily” thanked President Erdogan and his government for the support while at the same time criticising Imamoglu for not showing due attention The moment of the phone call was caught on video in which Imamoglou can be heard telling Iouvanidis that he was disturbed by what he said in the interview and by the fact that he failed to mention that the Municipality of Istanbul had sent a team of seven people to help “Your interview was unfortunate,” Imamoglou told Iouvanidis reminding him that he had called him to ask if he could be of any help and suggested that he demand a correction from Sabah if he thought what he said had been distorted A storm of negative comments followed from journalists and social media users who criticised him for the disagreement with the president of a minority institution We don’t need dictatorial attitudes,” some wrote “Greek-Turkish friendship is the only solution” in contrast to his comments about the “peace operation” in 1974 in Cyprus “enemies” and thank you to the far-right and ultra-nationalists of the neighbour Imamoglou tries to show a completely different profile when he talks to Greeks A profile that supports his pro-European doctrine more with whom he laid the foundations for a relationship of friendship and cooperation he said that Constantinople and Athens are two cities linked by a common fate and must together find solutions to the problems faced by Greece and Turkey “Friendship between the two countries is not one of the solutions before later visiting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis They criticised Imamoglou for accepting… a challenge from Kostas Bakoyannis as “he heard him smilingly call Istanbul Istanbul and did not correct him” he sought greater cooperation and even donated a bench to Bakoyannis a symbol of friendship between the two cities was placed in Technopolis and the mayors of the two cities sat and discussed on it in the Bakoyannis initiative for the Network of Balkan Cities the Turkish mayor had prepared his visit with a simple statement: “When I look at the Balkans I don’t see a world of kings and sultans Ekrem Imamoglu was targeted by the Turkish newspaper “Yeni Safak” when he participated in the world premiere of the musical work “Immigration Accord – Dark Waters” composed by Fuat Saka and orchestrated by Vangelis Zografos Imamoglu said that immigration was changing the world “Yeni Safak” wrote in a fiery article entitled “Imamoglu who did not say a word about the military arms on the islands in Greece when Turkey expressed its reaction,” that as the crisis for the Aegean islands continues Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used harsh language about the “over-armament” of Greece Imamoglu replied that “the world is big enough and can accommodate all of us Let us all sing with one voice the song of peace and brotherhood Let our voices drown out the voices of those who want war.” Imamoglu insisted on this “line” noting that “relations between Turkey and Greece can become better This would be an important message for world peace and tranquility.” The mayor of Istanbul after explaining that he considers Turkey a part of Europe said: “There are many historical elements and features between Turkey and Greece that have been positive and help us focus on the positive side of their relations I wonder why domestic politics brings the two countries against each other I have always belonged to those who believe that who developed this constructive communication Relations between Turkey and Greece can be better This would be an important message for world peace and tranquility.” despite the fact that the AKP has attempted to portray him as a “Greek” even when he wears…a blue tie Ekrem Imamoglu is not “Yiannis” at all as some in the Turkish press ironically have called him the only one who has managed to defeat three times the all-powerful in the political scene Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the only one who appears to be an opponent of the Turkish president the only Turkish politician who has called for friendship and peace between Greece and Turkey The latter may be called upon to prove this in practice Erdogan has been called upon many times… Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr