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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-07-20
CONTENTS
[01] Papandreou visits former exile island
[01] Papandreou visits former exile island
Main opposition PASOK party leader George Papandreou visited the former
exile island of Yiaros on Friday and paid homage to the Greek citizens
detained there as political prisoners during the seven-year colonels'
dictatorship in Greece between 1967-1974.
"Here, in the place of their exile and torture, we pay tribute to our
compatriots who resisted authoritarianism and fascism against those who
wanted to strike a blow against the democratic institutions,"
Papandreou said, adding that all those people were fighters for
democracy and for Greece. "We, today, are fighting for a just society
and do not forget their struggles and sacrifices," he said.
Papandreou also referred to Friday's 33rd anniversary of the Turkish
invasion of Cyprus and to those who fought and died or went missing in
the struggle for a free Cyprus, stressing that the efforts for a free
and independent Cyprus should continue.
Based on varous martial courts' rulings during the military junta, a
total of 22,000 people were exiled to Yiaros, which also served as a
place of exile after the civil war in Greece following WWII.
In 2001 the island was declared a historical monument.
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