Athens Metro to Resume Airport Route

(ATHENS NEWS AGENCY)  The Athens metro route (Line 3 or “Blue Line”) that reaches the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport of Athens will resume service by the end of the month, after being interrupted for six months to enable construction of three new metro stations on the same line — Nomismatokopio, Holargos and Aghia Paraskevi.  Only the Nomismatokopio (state mint) station is expected to operate at this stage, while the other two stations will be inaugurated at a later date. ATHENS METRO MAP

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Closer ties with Turkey

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis yesterday stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to resolve longstanding disputes between Greece and Turkey, during the second day of his landmark official visit to Ankara. Delivering a speech at Ankara’s Bilkent University, one of the leading research universities in Turkey, the premier said “I know very well that the road ahead of us is long and difficult. But the cost of not moving forward, and the lost benefit from not forging ahead, will be immense. And this, precisely, is the strongest incentive for keeping our eyes turned to the future,” Karamanlis continued.  “We have a lot to gain by moving ahead together. We have even more to lose by following the path of tension and enmity.” As for Greece, the prime minister said, “I can assure you that our commitment is to move forward.”

Karamanlis in Ankara: “Peace requires the strength to endure it”

(ANA-MPA) Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis continued his ground-breaking trip to Ankara on Thursday at the head of a high-ranking Greek delegation, which was received at the presidential mansion by Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Hours earlier the Greek premier laid a wreath at the Ataturk Mausoleum (Anitkabir) in the Turkish capital.In a dedication in the visitors’ book at the mausoleum, Karamanlis wrote: “Kemal Ataturk with Eleftherios Venizelos had the political courage, volition and foresight not to allow conflicts and tragedies of the past to become obstacles to efforts at building a better future of peace and cooperation, towards the benefit of both our peoples.”

The Jews of Greece

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The presence of Jews in Greece traces back to ancient times. These Greek Jews, known as Romaniotes, spoke Greek (Judeo-Greek) and had developed their own culture and customs within the confines of the Byzantine Empire, living on the mainland as well as on some islands, like Rhodes, Chios and Samos. That Jewish population of Greece increased dramatically in 1492, after the Catholic monarchs of Spain – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand – at the instigation of the Inquisition, issued the decree of Granada, according to which all Jews who refused to convert to Catholicism were to be expelled within 6 months; it is estimated that more than 200.000 Jews were expelled from that “cursed land.”