Mild But Windy

It’s been a windy weekend and once again the ferries were confined to port on Saturday. It was a good day for drying the laundry though and most houses were aflutter with sheets and towels. The wind has now switched to the south and showery weather is forecast for many parts of the country. The rest of the week is expected to remain mild but windy with the worst blow forecast for Thursday.

The Symi ferry is back in town, tied up outside Katerinettes and echoing to the merry whacking of steel as the crew set about chipping rust prior to the annual repaint. As usual we are all waiting to find out what the ferry schedules will be for February. No one knows or admits to anything but it is reassuring that the Symi is back as the Aegli and the Proteus must be due for their next service soon. The sales started throughout Greece today and will run a month so there is much close examination of calendars and diaries for the scheduling of shopping trips to Rhodes.

On a more serious note, the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink by a Turkish student in Istanbul is a dominant theme in the local media at the moment. It seems that the student was racially motivated and his appalled father turned him over to the authorities after recognising CCTV footage of his son on the news. With the subject of EU membership under scrutiny, how Turkey handles this incident will be closely watched as it raises issues of racism as well as press freedom and human rights. The Turkish Press has criticised the government for not providing adequate protection for the journalist who had been receiving death threats for some time – and called on all readers of the Turkish newspapers to attend the funeral tomorrow.

The subject of CCTV surveillance is also very topical at the moment in the aftermath of the US Embassy incident and the government’s expressed wish to reactivate many of the cameras installed as a security measure during the Athens Olympics. Readers interested in the Greek CCTV surveillance debate might like to log onto www.ekathimerini.com.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana