Greek Shipowner Who Donated His Wealth to the Armed Forces Dies at 97

SManalysis

By

Nick Kampouris Greek News

April 10, 2021

Iakovos Tsounis, a Greek shipowner and World War II veteran, died on Saturday at the age of 97.

Earlier this year, Tsounis had donated 23 million euros and 60 landing craft to the Greek armed forces, declaring that he wants to leave life as he began it — barefoot.

The President of the Hellenic Republic issued a statement after the news of his passing.

”A national benefactor, a true patriot and philanthropist, Iakovos Tsounis, with his ethos and great contribution especially to the Armed Forces, leaves a great legacy in the country. His loss causes grief to all Greeks. We say goodbye to him with gratitude,” the Greek President stated.

During a ceremony at the Greek Ministry of Defense in February, the great benefactor said he wants to donate everything he owns to the “Saints”, as he calls the armed forces.

Tsounis’ donations to Greece’s defense have included state-of-the-art night vision cameras, spare parts for armored vehicles based at units on Evros, the renovation of entire units at the military hospital in Athens and the restoration of a historic church in Kastelorizo, located just off the Turkish coast.

For his contribution in April of 2020 he was awarded by Presidential Decree the status of Reserve Officer, with the rank of Lieutenant General, with honor.

Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis thanked Tsounis, calling him “a loyal, consistent contributor of the Greek Armed Forces throughout his life” and said the state must recognize his long-term contributions.

“The youngest volunteer WWII veteran,” as ruling New Democracy parliament group representative Christos Boukoros said, “has astounded us by his move to donate his entire fortune to the Armed Forces while still alive, and gives us optimism at a time where the greater region of the Mediterranean is seeing a lot of turbulence.”

Other deputies also acknowledged the unique gift.

Iakovos Tsounis Fought in WWII as a sixteen-year-old

Tsounis, a descendant of the heroes of the revolution of 1821, is a successful businessman – shipowner.

Born in Patras, he fought at the age of 16 in the Greek-Italian war of 1940.

He started as a customs officer in Piraeus. In 1966 he entered the shipping world as a shipowner, acquiring a total of 13 merchant ships and creating a large fortune over time.

Since then, his great charitable activity has been the focus of his life. He also created the Museum, which is located next to his permanent residence on Kyprou Street, in Papagou.

Greek benefactors

Tsounis is following the steps of several benefactors that shaped modern Greece.

Men and women who contributed massively to the birth of the modern state after the fighting heroes kicked out the Ottomans — to the point that one can safely say that their contribution in times of peace was equal — if not greater — to that of the warriors.

These men were industrialists, shipping magnates, rich aristocrats, who built the Greek economy and helped a poor nation prosper. Their names are still alive in the foundations and institutions they left behind.

US Ambassador to Albania welcomes American troops for Defender Europe 21

SManalysis

Published: 08:36 - 10 April 2021

   

Ambassador Yuri Kim has welcomed today the US soldiers who arrived in Albania for the Defender Europe 21 military exercise.

Proud to welcome the United States soldiers to Albania as we prepare for the largest US-led multilateral military exercise in the Western Balkans. Defender21 will test and strengthen the ability of allies to deploy quickly, fight hard and win”, the US Ambassador declared on social networks.

“Defender Europe 21” will not be just a simple exercise of the US Embassy in Tirana with the US marines, but a real military spectacle, with the attendance of thousands of troops.

Colonel Dritan Demiraj, former Interior Minister, gave details about the exercise that will be held during April, May, and June. Unofficial sources said that for this exercise the troops will use 18 airplanes, 19 helicopters, 10 marine vessels, six Patriot rocket systems, 1000 supportive vehicles, and other military equipment.

Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ και Σωκράτης Γκιόλιας: Οι δημοσιογράφοι που δολοφονήθηκαν στην Ελλάδα

SManalysis

ΕΛΛΑΔΑ Ethnos

09.04.2021 

Ο Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ έπεσε νεκρός έξω από το σπίτι του τον Απρίλιο του 2021, ο Σωκράτης Γκιόλιας είχε εκτελεστεί έξω από το σπίτι του τον Ιούλιο του 2010

ΟΓιώργος Καραϊβάζ έπεσε νεκρός έξω από το σπίτι του στον Άλιμο από τη φονική ενέδρα που του έστησαν άγνωστοι. Στο σημείο της δολοφονίας του Γιώργου Καραϊβάζ έχουν βρεθεί τουλάχιστον 17 κάλυκες και οι Αρχές κάνουν έρευνες για να φτάσουν στους δολοφόνους του γνωστού δημοσιογράφου. 

Σύμφωνα με τις έως τώρα πληροφορίες ο Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ δέχτηκε τουλάχιστον 17 σφαίρες και οι δολοφόνοι του χρησιμοποίησαν όπλο με σιγαστήρα, καθώς κανένας από τους αυτόπτες μάρτυρες δεν φαίνεται να έχει ακούσει τους πυροβολισμούς.

Διαβάστε επίσης: Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ: Τον εκτέλεσαν με 17 σφαίρες - Στρατιωτικά ρούχα φορούσε ο δράστης

Σωκράτης Γκιόλιας: Δολοφονήθηκε τον Ιούλιο του 2010

Η είδηση της δολοφονίας του Γιώργου Καραϊβάζ ξυπνά, όμως, και μνήμες από τη δολοφονία του δημοσιογράφου, Σωκράτη Γκιόλια, ο οποίος εκτελέστηκε έξω από το σπίτι του τον Ιούλιο του 2010. Τότε οι αστυνομικοί είχαν βρει 20 κάλυκες από τον τόπο της δολοφονίας του Σωκράτη Γκιόλια στην Ηλιούπολη. 

Ακολούθησε το Έθνος στο Google News! Live όλες οι εξελίξεις λεπτό προς λεπτό, με την υπογραφή του www.ethnos.gr

Σύμφωνα με τα τότε στοιχεία, και όπως δήλωσε η σύζυγος του Σωκράτη Γκιόλια στην Αστυνομία, άγνωστος χτύπησε το κουδούνι του διαμερίσματός τους και όταν ο δημοσιογράφος άνοιξε αντίκρισε έναν άγνωστο, ο οποίος του είπε ότι κάποιοι έκλεβαν το ΙΧ αυτοκίνητό του κάτω από την πολυκατοικία.

Ο Σωκράτης Γκιόλιας είχε κατέβει γρήγορα στην είσοδο, όπου είχε σταθμεύσει το αυτοκίνητο και εκεί άγνωστοι τον γάζωσαν με πυροβόλο όπλο με αποτέλεσμα να τον σκοτώσουν. Στη συνέχεια είχαν διαφύγει με ΙΧ αυτοκίνητο και πιθανότατα ήταν τρία άτομα. Γύρω στις 7 το πρωί σε σχετικά μικρή απόσταση από τον τόπο της δολοφονίας είχε βρεθεί καμένο ένα ΙΧ αυτοκίνητο, το οποίο εξετάζεται αν ήταν των δραστών. Τα κίνητρα της δολοφονίας εξακολουθούν να είναι αδιευκρίνιστα ενώ από την αστυνομία δεν αποκλείεται καμία εκδοχή. 

Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ: Ποιος ήταν ο δημοσιογράφος που δολοφόνησαν τον Απρίλιο του 2021

Ο Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ ήταν από τους παλαιότερους αστυνομικούς συντάκτες στον δημοσιογραφικό χώρο. Τα περισσότερα χρόνια της δημοσιογραφικής του καριέρας τα πέρασε στον ANT1, από όπου και ξεκίνησε την δεκαετία του 1990. Το 2017 αποχώρησε από τον σταθμό και μετακόμισε στο Star, όπου εμφανιζόταν στην εκπομπή «Αλήθειες με τη Ζήνα». Επί σειρά ετών συνεργαζόταν με την εφημερίδα «ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΣ ΤΥΠΟΣ», ενώ τα τελευταία χρόνια είχε ξεκινήσει τη δική του προσπάθεια δημιουργώντας την ιστοσελίδα bloko.gr.

O Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ ήταν ένας ρεπόρτερ με ήθος που είχε αφήσει το δικό του στίγμα στο αστυνομικό ρεπορτάζ το οποίο υπηρετούσε επί σειρά ετών. Αφήνει πίσω του ένα παιδί, μόλις 19 ετών.

Το τελευταίο αντίο στον Καραϊβάζ από τους συνεργάτες του 

«Οι ώρες είναι πολύ δύσκολες» λένε οι συνεργάτες του Γιώργου Καραϊβάζ, ο οποίος εκτελέστηκε εν ψυχρώ έξω από το σπίτι του στον Αλιμο. Οι συνεργάτες του Γιώργου Καραϊβάζ εξέδωσαν συλληπητήριο μήνυμα για τον θάνατο του γνωστού δημοσιογράφου και το μήνυμά του ανέβηκε και στην ιστοσελίδα του bloko.gr. 

«Κάποιοι επέλεξαν να του κλείσουν το στόμα, να τον κάνουν να σταματήσει να γράφει τα κείμενά του, με σφαίρες» αναφέρουν αρχικά οι δύο του φίλοι Σπύρος Λεβειδιώτης και Μανώλης Ασαριώτης. Σύμφωνα με τους ίδιους, τα τελευταία χρόνια τους καθοδήγησε σε δύσκολες στιγμές και τους τίμησε με τη φιλία του. Έτσι «οι ώρες είναι πολύ δύσκολες».

«Ο Γιώργος Καραϊβάζ, ο ιδρυτής και ιδιοκτήτης του bloko.gr, δεν είναι πια μαζί μας. Κάποιοι επέλεξαν να του κλείσουν το στόμα, να τον κάνουν να σταματήσει να γράφει τα κείμενά του, με σφαίρες. Τον εκτέλεσαν μπροστά στο σπίτι του. Για εμάς, που τα τελευταία χρόνια συνεργαστήκαμε μαζί του, μας καθοδήγησε σε δύσκολες στιγμές, ήπιαμε κρασί παρέα, μας τίμησε με τη φιλία του, οι ώρες είναι πολύ δύσκολες. Οι φίλοι Σπύρος Λεβειδιώτης, Μανώλης Ασαριώτης».

Greek Journalist Shot and Killed Outside Home in Athens

SManalysis

By Anna Wichmann Greek Reporter

April 9, 2021

Greek journalist Giorgos Karaivaz was murdered outside of his home in the Athenian suburb of Alimos Friday.

According to reports, two men on a motorcycle, one of whom was wearing what appeared to be army clothes, shot Karavaiz at least six times as the journalist was exiting his car in front of his home.

An estimated 17 to 20 shell casings were found at the scene, and details indicate that the killers used a silencer, as neighbors didn’t hear any gunshots.

It remains unclear whether the perpetrators followed Karaivaz or waited for the journalist to arrive home.

Greek journalist Karaivaz was featured on popular daily show

The Greek journalist was murdered around 2:30 PM, as he returned home from his work as a crime reporter on the TV network STAR.

Karaivaz was a featured on the panel of the popular daily show “Alitheies me tin Zina” on the same network.

Investigators are currently collecting information from potential witnesses in the area, and will obtain video evidence from nearby security cameras in their hunt for the killers.

The killing has provoked shock in Greece, especially among journalists. Many theorize that Karaivaz’s work as a crime reporter may have something to do with his brutal murder.

Karaivaz was well-known for his work reporting on news regarding the Greek police and crime. The journalist operated the site bloko.gr, which reported on the subject.

Second killing of a journalist in Greece in recent memory

Friday’s brutal murder marks the second time a journalist has been murdered in Greece in the last 25 years.

Journalist Sokratis Giolias was shot 16 times in close range outside his home eleven years ago.

The far-left terrorist organization Sect of Revolutionaries took credit for the murder in a statement that police considered authentic, as the weapon used in the journalist’s murder was commonly used by the terror group.

The perpetrators of Giolias’s murder were never apprehended, and police believe that the Sect of Revolutionaries terror group is still active to this day.

World War reparations: Greece DEMANDS €377 billion from Germany in ‘compensation’

SManalysis

by GCT B

The government in Athens has revived its demand for talks with Germany on wartime reparations just ahead of the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Greece by German troops in World War II.

“The question remains open until our demands are met. These demands are valid and active, and they will be asserted by any means,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexandros Papaioannou told the German news agency DPA.

Greece last made an official call for negotiations in 2019, under leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. But the government of current conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in January 2020 that Athens still considered the issue an open one, although it had so far refrained from pressuring Berlin on the matter.

Billions in damage

The cost of the damage caused by Nazi Germany in Greece during the war has been estimated at €289 billion ($339 billion) by a Greek parliamentary commission. That amount includes a loan that Greece was forced to grant the German central bank.

Under the occupation of Hitler’s Germany, 300,000 Greek nationals were killed from April 1941 to September 1944. The Nazis committed numerous massacres in parts of the country, including Lyngiades, Distomo, Kalavryta, Kandanos or Viannos

Germany has said it considers the issue to have been resolved by the so-called Two Plus Four Agreement, signed in 1990, which allowed the united Germany to become fully sovereign the following year. The signatories to the treaty were the former East and West Germanies and the former occupying powers, France, the US, Britain and the Soviet Union.

Reparations were not explicitly mentioned in the document. Countries such as Greece and Poland that had been invaded by Germany in the war were not included in the negotiations for the treaty.

A Bundestag report in 2019 found that Greece’s claims did have legal weight, calling the German government’s position “acceptable” but “by no means compulsory” under international law.

*More on GCT: Greek government formally asks Germany for billions in war reparations

Dendias warns from Serbia that Turkey seeks to influence Balkans through economy and religion

SManalysis

by GCT P

Developing bilateral relations, expanding economic cooperation, and discussing developments in the Balkans were at the centre of today’s meeting held Belgrade between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias with his Serbian counterpart of Nikola Selaković.

Dendias is paying an official visit to Serbia, accompanied by the Minister of Rural Development and Food Spilios Libanos and Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Frangogiannis.

During the meeting of the two Foreign Ministers, the need for closer cooperation in all areas and implementing the objectives of the Joint Declaration signed in December 2019 during the third Supreme Council of Greece-Serbia Cooperation.

In the joint press conference, Dendias reiterated Greece’s full support for the European perspective of Serbia, as well as all the countries in the Western Balkans.

He stated that Greece seeks the cooperation and development of all countries in the region.

The Foreign Minister stressed that channels of communication and cooperation should be built in the Balkans and that intolerance and religious fanaticism should not be cultivated.

Dendias referred to the strong presence of Turkey in the region, which, as he said, is trying to increase its influence by using the economy and religion.

He said he intends to visit Turkey, but only if Ankara’s delinquency and provocative behaviour has stop.

Referring to regional cooperation, Dendias stressed that it should include all countries and agreed with his Serbian counterpart to organise a tripartite meeting in Corfu between Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia.

Dendias conveyed to the Serbian government the congratulations of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the progress of the vaccination program implemented by Serbia.

He invited all Serbs to visit Greece this summer to spend their holidays.

On the issue of Kosovo, the Greek Foreign Minister expressed his dissatisfaction that there is no progress towards resolving the issue and stated the intention of Greece, if Serbia asks, to mediate for the resumption of dialogue.

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, for his part, thanked the Greek government for its support to Serbia’s European course.

The Foreign Minister stressed that cooperation between the two countries must be strengthened in all areas.

He referred to the importance that Serbia attaches to road and rail connections with the ports of Thessaloniki and Piraeus.

Dendias made special reference to the energy sector, announcing that Serbia would supply a part of its gas needs from Alexandroupolis when the connection with Bulgaria is completed.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution, Selaković said that a street in Belgrade would be named after the first governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias.

Dendias thanked him for the renaming, pointing out the fact that Kapodistrias came from Corfu, his home island.