Breaking News! : CYPRUS PRESS ON HELLENIC GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF “GREEK LOBBY”

NEW YORK—An article titled “What’s the price of enlightenment” in Cyprus Mail expresses many of the concerns of dedicated activists in the Cypriot community of New York regarding Hellenic government funding of the personal agendas and political ineptitude of the Cypriot or Greek “lobby” in America. According to the article published in the famous “COFFEE SHOP” section of the Tuesday, August 25, 2009 edition of CYPRUS MAIL, various groups (PSEKA, Cyprus Federation of America , Coordinated Effort of Hellenes) run for twenty years by multi-millionaires Philip Christopher and lately Panicos or Peter Papanicolaou  , along with AHI or American Hellenic Institute founded by multi-millionaire Gene Rossides and run by Real Estate and construction company owner Nick Larigakis for twenty-three years, got money this year from the Hellenic government of Cyprus, “This must be a drop in the ocean for Christopher, but all the organisations in the US have been given a piece of the enlightenment pie. PSEKA received a paltry 100,000 bucks, while the Cyprus Federation of America, of which Christopher had been president in the past, received $125,000. The American Hellenic Institute received $200,000, while the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, of which Christopher is the Vice Chair, received $300,000.”
AHI as recently as September 28, 2009 issued a Press Release denying that they get funding from “Hellenic government sources” despite the publication of the Cyprus Mail article noting that AHI or American Hellenic Institute got $200,000 from the Hellenic government of Cyprus , AHI states in a press release on their web site that we reproduce below “For the record, the American Hellenic Institute DOES NOT receive “Hellenic government funds” as stated in their statement.” The AHI statement was issued in direct response to a statement from Ioannis Fidanakis of the Hellenic League of America (HLA) titled “More than just indifference”.  For the record, Hellenic League of America (HLA) has told us they soon will release evidence showing that AHI gets money not only from the Hellenic government of Cyprus, but also from the Hellenic government of Greece.
The article from Cyprus Mail is reproduced below followed by the Press Release from AHI Denying that it receives Hellenic government funds, both reproduced for Fair Use and Educational Purposes.
Cyprus Mail is a Cypriot English language newspaper read by the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, and foreign nationals in Cyprus. It is published daily (except Mondays), and a number of articles are available online. It is also the oldest newspaper on the island, founded in 1945.
URL: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=47446&cat_id=7
Posted at Cyprus Mail Internet Edition on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Cyprus Mail
What’s the price of enlightenment
A BIG WELCOME to all our unofficial ambassadors, lobbyists and crusaders for the Cyprus cause who have come from abroad to take part in this week’s World Conference of Expatriate Cypriots (POMAK-PSEKA). All the leading lights of the Kyproullan diaspora will be present at tomorrow’s opening ceremony at the Hilton Hotel.
The conference is in dire need of sexing up, as it has become a bit of a bore-fest. Every year we hear the same guys saying the same things about respect for human rights and the great achievements of their respective organisations, which would have been even greater if the government would have given them more money to pursue the common, noble objective of ‘Justice for Cyprus’.
Phillip Christopher, the President of PSEKA (the International Co-ordinating Committee ‘Justice for Cyprus’) who celebrates 20 years in the post this year, has been saying this for more than 30 years. In 1989 he told the conference that if the government spent 50 to 100 million bucks, the Cyprob would have been solved.
Since then he has been singing the same tune every year, demanding more cash to be spent by the government on “a serious campaign of public relations”, that will persuade the US government to remove the Turkish occupying troops from Cyprus, ensure the return of all the refugees to their homes and re-unite the island without Turkish guarantees.
After 20 years, during which none of four presidents took his oft-repeated, impassioned plea seriously, you would have thought Christopher would have given up, stepped down and allowed someone with greater powers of persuasion to become president of PSEKA. After all, without spending millions on the public relations campaign there will be no Justice for Cyprus. Justice does not come cheap in this rotten world.
THE GOOD news for the leaders of the different expat enlightenment warriors, is that our cash-strapped but generous government has increased its enlightenment budget for 2009 by one million euro, bringing the total spending to €3.1 million.
This must be a drop in the ocean for Christopher, but all the organisations in the US have been given a piece of the enlightenment pie. PSEKA received a paltry 100,000 bucks, while the Cyprus Federation of America, of which Christopher had been president in the past, received $125,000. The American Hellenic Institute received $200,000, while the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, of which Christopher is the Vice Chair, received $300,000.
There was no justice for the Pancyprian Association of America, of which Christopher is the President – it received no enlightenment cash according to our records – and will have no resources to secure justice for Cyprus this year.
THE CYPRUS Federation of America, which was favoured by the government, does not have an ordinary president, but a ‘Supreme President’ (just like a pizza supreme), who goes by the name of Peter Papanicolaou, even though his real name is Panicos.
Papanicolaou, an Ayios Dhometios working class boy who made his fortune when he moved to the US, loves to play the big-shot Cypriot mover and shaker of the Big Apple, which is why he is a supreme president and not a supreme pizza. Despite living in the US for close to 30 years and setting up a successful business his burning desire is to be in with the Cyprus government of the day.
He became close to the Clerides government when he befriended its foreign minister Ioannis Kass. When The Ethnarch was elected, he immediately became a disciple and during the referendum he installed himself at the Hilton Hotel co-ordinating the ‘Oxi’ campaign as a favour to his hero, who allowed him to waltz into the palazzo whenever he chose. Of course, whenever the late Ethnarch was in the Big Apple, he would be invited for souvla to Papanicolaou’s house in Brooklyn.
On the comrade’s election, Papanicolaou had to get in with the new regime. His friend and associate from New York, retired ambassador, Sotos Zakheos (see below) arranged a meeting and now Panicos has become bosom buddies with the comrade presidente. So close are they now, that they went on holiday together to the Dodecanese island of Astypalea in Greece last week.
If the comrade signs a deal with Turks and there is a referendum, Panicos will no doubt return to Kyproulla and install himself at the Hilton to co-ordinate the ‘Nai’ campaign, as a favour to his new hero.
THE QUESTION everyone is asking is whether the comrade presidente will have time to go for the traditional souvla for presidentes at chez Papanicolaou when he is in the city that never sleeps next month for the UN General Assembly. The late Tassos never turned down the invitation when he was in the Big A.
Even if he has no time for the souvla, comrade Tofias will be the guest of honour at the Cyprus Federation of America’s Annual Awards Gala which will be held on September 26. At the Gala, the Federation and Supreme President Panicos will honour Hambis Nicolaou with the ‘Justice for Cyprus’ award.
Hambis, a modest man with plenty to be modest about, is an old and good friend of the comrade, but why he will be given the prestigious award remains a mystery. Our e-mail to the Federation, asking for the reasons for honouring Hambis – who we hear is also on holidays with the two amigos in Astypalea – was not answered.
I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he owned a movie theatre that only showed sex films, because it is difficult to find any connection between porn and justice for Kyproulla.
CHRISTOPHER will happy to know that not all is doom and gloom on the PR front. The government has taken a radical decision on the issue of the enlightenment campaign, which will no longer be the responsibility of clueless Public Information Office officials. Enlightenment will now be handled by clueless foreign ministry officials.
The foreign ministry immediately adopted a more imaginative approach. It invited all Cyprus consuls from around the world – about 100 – to Nicosia to brief them on how to enlighten people in their respective countries about the Cyprob. The taxpayer picked up the bill for their air fares, but it was a small price to pay for promoting justice for Cyprus all over the world.
STAYING on diplomatic issues, we hear that the comrade turned down a meeting with the UN Secretary-General and Talat in New York because of his very tight schedule – maybe he accepted the souvla invitation after all.
From the US he will be flying to his favourite country, Cuba for an official visit. One of his flunkeys should remember to take a suitcase of toilet rolls as there is a big shortage of toilet paper in Cuba, because of the economic recession. The socialist paradise might not get sufficient supplies before the end of the year, officials at state companies have said.
AFTER retiring from the foreign ministry Sotos Zakheos has become a general fixer, whose services are being increasingly used by the government. He is reportedly the man who set up the purchase of the used tanks from Russia on the grounds that it would ensure Moscow’s continued principled stand on the Cyprob.
A hundred million euros for a principled stand we cannot rely on (remember Putin’s comments about wanting to have good relations with the ‘Turkish part of Cyprus’), is rather excessive when we could give the cash to Philip Christopher for his “serious campaign of public relations” that would guarantee justice for Cyprus.
Zakheos is the man who had supposedly brokered the Qatar deal, having visited the emirate with Mrs Christofia earlier in the year. But we have heard nothing about the construction of the seven star super-luxury hotel that the Qataris would build opposite the Hilton since the presidente’s official visit to Doha at the beginning of May.
Our illustrious and loquacious finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis, on his return from Doha had said that a Qatari delegation would be arriving in Kyproulla in June for the signing of an agreement about the project. We are now approaching the end of August and the delegation has still not arrived.
For the sake of the taxpayer, we hope Zakheos’ tank deal will prove as successful as his Qatar deal.
WHY IS THE Mayor of Ayios Dhometios Andreas Hadjiloizou dragging his feet over announcing the listed buildings in his municipality? The municipality received loans from the EU after it went with a plan for preserving the core of Ayios Dhometios; the money paid for the new paved roads and some infrastructure work.
The mayor had also told the EU that old houses of historical or architectural value would be listed in order to preserve the unique character of the old part of the municipality. Architects were hired to carry out a study of the area and draft a catalogue of the houses that should be listed. The catalogue was approved unanimously by the municipal council almost three years ago, but has remained in the mayor’s drawer.
The catalogue should have been sent to the Town Planning Department which has the legal authority to declare buildings as ‘listed’. But the catalogue has yet to reach the Department, with Hadjiloizou refusing to give any explanation. He has declined to respond to letter asking him why the catalogue has not been sent to Town Planning.
Rumours that one of the houses proposed for listing, will be inherited by the mayor, as it belongs to an elderly relative of his, were dismissed as nonsense by an Ayios Dhometios barber.
THE DEPARTURE of Andreas Kizourides as head of marketing of Marfin Popular Bank was as sudden and unexpected as his appointment. When he was appointed to the high-powered and well-paid post from a lowly job at a rival bank, everyone said that the MPB’s head honcho Andreas Vgenopoulos was pandering to the then Governor of the Central Bank Ttooulis of Avgorou, who was Kizourides’ father-in-law.
His unceremonious removal from the post seems to confirm this theory. Ttooulis is no longer governor and is of no use to Vgen. What we found quite sickening was the failure of the militant, megalomaniac boss of the bank employees’ union (ETYK) Loizos Hadjicostis to protest or threaten industrial action against Marfin Popular for its shabby treatment of Kizourides, who initially refused to leave the job.
Hadjicostis is a close friend of Ttooulis and ETYK is a shareholder in the bank school owned by the former governor’s family, but it would appear that, at present, he is an even closer friend of the big employer Vgenopoulos.
THE EUROPEAN parliament passed a resolution last Spring declaring August 23 a ‘Europe-wide Remembrance Day’ for the ‘victims of Stalinism and Nazism’. But it was left to individual EU governments to take the decision of declaring August 23 as a special day. I suspect the Kyproulla government has exercised its prerogative not to do so, because here we have had only beneficiaries of Stalinism. The victims are currently in production.
 
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
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URL:   http://ahiworld.org/announcements/092809/
September 28, 2009
Printer Friendly Version (47 KB PDF)
American Hellenic Institute Statement in Response to
False Claims Being Circulated Concerning the American Hellenic Institute
September 28, 2009
It has come to the attention of the American Hellenic Institute that a recent statement which was apparently widely distributed on-line by an organization calling itself the “Hellenic League of America” makes false claims against the American Hellenic Institute.
Their statement is in reference to a recently published Op-Ed written by AHI President, Aleco Haralambides, titled “Our Problem is Indifference.”
While the AHI welcomes all opinions, comments and suggestions, on any press release we issue, we will not tolerate false claims.
For the record, the American Hellenic Institute DOES NOT receive “Hellenic government funds” as stated in their statement.
The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit tax-exempt 501 ( c ) ( 6) membership organization.
AHI funding comes from membership dues, donations, and organized fundraising events. It’s unfortunate that valuable time and resources has to be spent in issuing a statement to address this blatant falsehood.
The American Hellenic Institute is a nonprofit public policy organization that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and also within the American Hellenic community.
1220 16th Street, NW | Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone 202-785-8430 | Fax 202-785-5178 | www.ahiworld.org
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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: [email protected]
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
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