THE RETURN OF “AVRIANISM” IN THE FORM OF EXTREME RACISM

GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR

(Greek National Committee of the International Helsinki Federation)

& MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE

(Greek Affiliate of Minority Rights Group International)

P.O. Box 51393, GR-14510 Kifisia, Greece; tel. 30-1-620.01.20; fax: 30-1-807.57.67;

e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr      http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

16/3/1998

 

TOPIC : THE RETURN OF “AVRIANISM”

IN THE FORM OF EXTREME RACISM.

 

The cooperating organizations Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group - Greece denounce the increasing wave of Albanophobia that has been reigning, in recent t days, in the Greek mass media and culminated with the racist front page of the newspaper “Avriani” (12/3), which asks from the government in a provocative way to start deporting Albanians. The specific report tries to feed the lowest instincts of the citizens, since it emphasizes that “the psychosis of Greeks is totally justified”.

 

This unacceptable generalization that presents Albanians as persons who “steal”, “murder”, and “spread terror all over Greece” is an ingredient element of the News on TV, especially in private stations. Our organizations point out that this propaganda against Albanians, led by TV channels and newspapers, not only brings up an undisguised racism, but also does not correspond to the reality, since, just a few days ago, a reliable research of the Criminology Section of the Panteion University (“Eleftherotypia on Sunday,” 8/3) leads to the conclusion that, for instance, 70% of robberies concerning taxi drivers (which are, in an irresponsible way, attributed to Albanians by mass media) are committed by Greeks.

 

Whenever such a campaign of disinformation arises, the Greek government does not inform fully the citizens for the real situation, nor the exaltations of Albanophobia or, in general, xenophobia are denounced with the required vitality. On the contrary, unfortunately, the denouncements of the Prime Minister of Albanophobia of mass media (and, also, of the antisemitism of the N.D. deputy G. Karatzaferis, and of the unacceptable use of violence by police against Roma) were removed from the officially published text of the Prime Minister’s speech, one year ago, during the opening of the European Year against Racism.

 

Consequently, it seems that this year’s “Paneuropean Week of Action against Racism”, which starts today, finds the political leadership unwilling to help prevent citizens from being influence by this new, outrageous and poisonous climate of hysteria. Therefore, the official ceremony of 12/3 in Athens, with the participation of top state officials, on the presentation of the first, large modern Albanian – Greek Dictionary are an obvious hypocrisy.