SPECIAL REPORT - 39 years since the restoration of democracy in Greece

In modern Greek usage, the term “Ethnarch” has the connotation of "father of the nation", and is widely used as an epithet applied to one of the most influential political leaders of modern Hellenism: Constantine Karamanlis. 

It was about two hours past midnight, between July 23rd and 24th, 1974 when Constantine Karamanlis landed at Ellinikon airport aboard the former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing’s plane from Paris. Huge crowds gathered to greet him at Athens airport and there was jubilation in the streets of the Greek capital to mark the beginning of a return to democracy. 

Karamanlis, 67, was prime minister for an unprecedented eight years until the centre-left won power in the country's last democratic election in 1963. Up until his return that day, he was in self-imposed exile in Paris He was one of eight former senior politicians invited to return by the foundering military leadership.

Constantine Karamanlis part 1 of 4 

The military junta, led by Colonel Papadopoulos, Colonel Makarezos and Brigadier Pattakos seized power in Greece in April 1967. Following the invasion of Cyprus by the Turks, the dictators finally abandoned Ioannides and his disastrous policies.

On July 23, 1974, President Phaedon Gizikis called a meeting of old guard politicians, including Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Spyros Markezinis, Stephanos Stephanopoulos, Evangelos Averoff and others. The heads of the armed forces also participated in the meeting. The agenda was to appoint a national unity government that would lead the country to elections. Kanellopoulos was originally suggested as the head of the new interim government. He was the interim Prime Minister originally deposed by the dictatorship in 1967 and a distinguished politician who had repeatedly criticized Papadopoulos and his successor. Raging battles were still taking place in Cyprus' north when Greeks took to the streets in all the major cities, celebrating the junta's decision to relinquish power before the war in Cyprus could spill all over the Aegean. But talks in Athens were going nowhere with Gizikis' offer to Panagiotis Kanellopoulos to form a government.

Nonetheless, after all the other politicians departed without reaching a decision, Averoff remained in the meeting room and further engaged Gizikis. He insisted that Karamanlis was the only political personality who could lead a successful transition government, taking into consideration the new circumstances and dangers both inside and outside the country. Gizikis and the heads of the armed forces initially expressed reservations, but they finally became convinced by Averoff's arguments. Admiral Arapakis was the first, among the participating military leaders, to express his support for Karamanlis.After Averoff's decisive intervention, Gizikis decided to invite Karamanlis to assume the premiership. Throughout his stay in France, Karamanlis was a vocal opponent of the Regime of the Colonels, the military junta that seized power in Greece in April 1967. Now he was called to end his self imposed exile and restore Democracy to the place that originally created it… Greece.

Upon news of his impending arrival cheering Athenian crowds took to the streets chanting: Έρχεται! Έρχεται! He is coming! He is coming… Similar celebrations broke out all over Greece. Athenians in their thousands also went to the airport to greet him.

Karamanlis was sworn-in as Prime Minister under President pro-tempore Phaedon Gizikis who remained in power in the interim, or until December 1974, for legal continuity reasons, until a new constitution could be enacted, and was subsequently replaced by duly elected President Michail Stasinopoulos.

During the inherently unstable first weeks after his arrival, Karamanlis was forced to sleep aboard a yacht watched over by a destroyer for the fear of a new coup. He attempted to defuse the tension between Greece and Turkey, which were on the brink of war over the Cyprus crisis, through the diplomatic route. Two successive conferences in Geneva, where the Greek government was represented by George Mavros, failed to avert a full-scale invasion and occupation of 37 percent of Cyprus by Turkey on 14 August 1974.

Constantine Karamanlis part 4 of 4

The events that led to metapolitefsi and the traditional weaknesses of the Greek political and social institutions were not conducive to a comprehensive strategy towards democracy. The civil society was not prepared to articulate a transition strategy "from below" and the groups of resistance were fragmented, despite their political glamour. Therefore the transition process became a "from above" project, whose weight had to fall on the shoulders of Karamanlis.

Karamanlis first legalized the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) that was constantly demonized by the junta, using this political move as a differentiator between the junta rigidity on the matter that betrayed its totalitarianism and his own realpolitik approach honed by years of practicing democracy. The legalization of KKE was also meant as a gesture of political inclusionism and rapprochement. At the same time Karamanlis also freed all political prisoners and pardoned all political crimes against the junta. This approach was warmly received by the people, long weary of junta divisive polemics.

Following through with his reconciliation theme he also adopted a measured approach to removing collaborators and appointees of the dictatorship from the positions they held in government bureaucracy, and, wanting to officially inaugurate the new democratic era in Greek politics as soon as possible, declared that elections would be held in November 1974, a mere four months after the collapse of the Regime of the Colonels. This statesmanlike approach pleased the right as well as the left and greatly lowered the political temperature of the country. It is also another reason why the democracy-driven metapolitefsi worked.

In the legislative election of November 1974, Karamanlis with his newly formed conservative party, not coincidentally named New Democracy (Νέα Δημοκρατία, transliterated in English as Nea Demokratia) obtained a massive parliamentary majority and he was elected Prime Minister. The elections were soon followed by the 1974 plebiscite on the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic.

In January 1975 the junta members were formally arrested and in early August of the same year the government of Karamanlis brought charges of high treason and mutiny against Georgios Papadopoulos and nineteen other co-conspirators of the military regime. The mass trials, described as "Greece's Nuremberg ", were staged at the Korydallos Prison under heavy security and televised. One thousand soldiers armed with submachine guns provided security. The roads leading to the jail were patrolled by tanks. Papadopoulos and Ioannides were sentenced to death for high treason, but these sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government.

New Democracy went on to win the Greek legislative election in 1977, and Karamanlis continued to serve as Prime Minister until May 10, 1980, when he succeeded Tsatsos as President of Greece and then cohabited for four years (1981–1985) with his fierce political opponent and leader of PASOK, the Greek socialist party, prime minister Andreas Papandreou. PASOK and Papandreou captured the sizeable center-left current in Greece, which emerged from fragmented resistance groups that were active during the dictatorship.

The political and social views expounded by PASOK were in antithesis to the centre-right policies followed by the conservative government of ND (1974–1981). According to Ino Afentouli, the political expression of the metapolitefsi, namely the coming to power of a conservative leader such as Karamanlis, did not correspond to the changes which had in the meantime befallen Greek society. Thereby, this current often opposed ND's governments, disdained the old centrist political elite expressed by Center Union – New Forces (and its leader Georgios Mavros) and prompted the rise to power of PASOK and Papandreou in the elections of 1981.

Since 1974 Papandreou challenged Karamanlis' choices and objected to his dominant role in defining post-1974 democracy, while others political forces of the opposition, such as Center Union - New Forces and EDA occasionally offered him an inconsistent support, especially during 1974-1977.

In the elections of 1981 Papandreou used as slogan the catch word change (Greek: αλλαγή). Some analysts, including Afentouli, regard PASOK's victory under Papandreou as a culmination of the metapolitefsi of 1974, given that the fall of the junta had not been accompanied by the rise of new political powers, but rather by the resumption of power by the old guard politicians.

Nonetheless, Karamanlis or the Hellenic Republic’s Ethnarch is acknowledged for his successful restoration of Democracy and the repair of the two great national schisms by first legalising the communist party and by establishing the system of presidential democracy in Greece. His successful prosecution of the junta during the junta trials and the heavy sentences imposed on the junta principals also sent a message to the army that the era of immunity from constitutional transgressions by the military was over.

He was certainly one of the greatest leaders this country has ever known….

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metapolitefsi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Karamanlis

X-Files- The Mystery of the Nazca Lines (VIDEO)

The high desert of Peru holds one of the most mystifying monuments of the known world, the massive-scale geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines. Ranging from geometric patterns to “drawings” of different animals and stylized human-like forms, these ancient lines can only be truly taken in from high in the air, leaving generations mystified as to how these precise works could’ve been completed long before the documented invention of human flight. Are they man made, and what purpose do they serve? Today the X-Files opens the case of the Nazca Lines and takes a look at the facts and theories surrounding this mystery. 

Are the lines signs left by an alien race? Were they used as landing strips for UFOs? Are they relics of a ancient people far more advanced, capable of human flight, then previously imagined? Anything from ancient foot race paths, and ceremonial walking, to alien runway’s have been suggested for the reason of the lines existence. It is necessary to explore all of these theories and to look at the recent and past research to see if one can come to any sort of conclusive picture behind the enigmatic lines in the desert.

Why did the people of Nazca create such elaborate geoglyphs so large that no one could see them, has indeed puzzled researchers since their discovery. The leading theory is that the Nazca lines were religious in nature, meant to be visible to gods residing high in the sky. Proponents of this theory also suggest that the lines might of served not only as messages to the gods, but also as paths leading to and from places of worship.

Though discovered by Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe who spotted them while hiking through the surrounding foothills in 1927, the forms are so difficult to see from the ground that they were not widely known until the 1930's when aircraft spotted them while surveying for water. 

The plain, crisscrossed, by these giant lines with many forming rectangles, has a striking resemblance to a modern airport. 

The Swiss writer, Eric von Daniken, even suggested they had been built for the convenience of ancient visitors from space to land their ships. As tempting as it might be to subscribe to this theory, the desert floor at Nazca is soft earth and loose stone, not tarmac, and would not support the landing wheels of either an aircraft or a flying saucer.

So why are the lines there? The American explorer Paul Kosok, who made his first visit to Nazca in the 1940s, suggested that the lines were astronomically significant and that the plain acted as a giant observatory. He called them "the largest astronomy book in the world." Gerald Hawkins, an American astronomer, tested this theory in 1968 by feeding the position of a sample of lines into a computer and having a program calculate how many lines coincided with an important astronomical event. Hawkins showed the number of lines that were astronomically significant were only about the same number that would be the result of pure chance. This makes it seem unlikely Nazca is an observatory.

 

Ancient Mysteries - Nazca Lines

There have been so many theories about this mind blowing mystery by various writers and scientists that it is difficult to draw conclusions. Here are just a few:

• Erich von Däniken - Cargo-Cult - Däniken's theory is the most famous approach to solve the mystery of Nazca. He had the idea that long time ago visitors from other stars visited the earth and naturally Nazca. At this place they landed, during the landing stones was blown away by the power of rocket propulsion. By approaching more the power was increasing and the cleaned band broader. In this way the first trapezes emerged. Later the Aliens disappeared and left confused people. Like in the modern cargo cults they tried to call the Gods back by drawing lines, figures and trapezes. Never Däniken said the formations was made by Aliens. He discovered the GGF/Mandala/Zodiac and the mirror - Formation and compares them with modern VASIS or PAPI-Signs.
• Alan F. Alford - Negroid Slaves: This theory means the Nazca-Lines was made by Negroid Slaves of the Tihuanaco Culture. After a revolution the Negroid population destroyed some figure, this is the explanation for overdrawn zigzag-formations. Later this people went in northern direction and founded Chavin and the Olmec culture.
• Robert Bast - A memory of the Deluge:- Robert Bast from Australia has a very interesting theory. All these animal, plant and human-shaped figures are lying together on the ground. So it could be a memorial place of the big flood. Many cultures of our world know deluge-myths, you can find a couple of them at his Side. Or visit directly the URL of his Nazca-Theory.
• Gilbert de Jong - A nazcan Zodiac:  Jong was himself in Nazca and measured the GGF by GPS. He obtained a length of the square side of about 54,7 Meter. In the formation he recognized a Zodiac. More about at his theory you can find on his site.
• Robin Edgar - Solar Eclipses: Edgar from Canada proposes that the Nazca-Figures were inspired by, and intended to be seen by, the (so-called) "Eye of God" that is manifested during total solar eclipses. An extraordinary series of solar eclipses coincided with the construction of the Nazca lines. Some Lines are aligned with the winter solstice, a less spectacular but more regular, "death" and "rebirth" of the Sun God.
• Maria Reiche - Astronomical Theory - Maria Reiche, the most famous Nazca-Researcher, prefer the astronomical theory. Lines should show in direction of the rising of important stars and planetary events like sun solstices. Formations like the spider and the monkey could show star constellations like Orion and Ursa Mayor.
  The big problem of all astronomical theories is the unknowing of the age. The direction of stars is changing within centuries because the phenomena of precession. Reiche has led a determined effort to discredit the von Daniken theory of extraterrestrials. The strategy of this attack has been to argue that the Nazca Indians constructed the Lines relatively recently - some time between 300 BC and AD 800. In support of this possibility, some scientists have put forward ingenious ideas on how the geoglyphs could theoretically have been designed from the ground. The more important evidence, however, is that which attempts to link the Lines definitively to the Nazcan culture. Here, neither of the two key pieces of evidence survive close scrutiny. The first piece of evidence is a series of radiocarbon dates, based on ceramic and wood remains which were left at the Lines by the Nazcan people. It is claimed that this proves that the Nazcans constructed the Lines. On the contrary, the dating of these materials tells us only that the Nazcans lived in the area of the Lines. Since the Lines themselves cannot be radiocarbon dated, the possibility remains that they already existed when the Nazcan culture emerged. The second piece of evidence is the alleged resemblance of the Nazca geoglyphs to certain features found on Nazcan pottery. This is an important issue because it potentially offers proof that the Nazcans had either designed the images or at least viewed them from the air. Maria has her theories but no conclusive proof as to their construction. In 1968, a study by the National Geographic Society determined that, whilst some of the Nazca lines did point to the positions of the Sun, Moon and certain stars two thousand years ago, it was no more than could be expected by mere chance. In 1973, Dr Gerald Hawkins studied 186 lines with a computer programme and found that only 20 per cent had any astronomical orientation - again no more than by pure chance. In 1982, Anthony Aveni obtained similar results, whilst in 1980, Georg Petersen pointed out that Reiche's theory did not explain the different lengths and widths of the lines. More recently, Johan Reinhard has noted that the surrounding mountains provided a ready-made and much more effective mechanism for the Nazcans to use as a solar calendar; the lines would thus have been quite superfluous to them. In addition to this avalanche of scientific opinion, we should also note that Reiche, like von Daniken, has failed to explain the significance of the animal geoglyphs. Maria Reiche, the German mathematician and archaeologist most famous for her research into the enigmatic figures of Nazca, died in 1998 at the age of 95. She is buried in the arid valley she loved so well.
• Simone Waisbard - Astronomical Calendar - Simone Waisbard writes that the drawing of Nazca are a giant astronomical calendar. Further the Nazca-line-system was used to measure the precipitation value. Figures, especially seabirds, have a connection to the meteorological prophecy system of the Nazca-Culture. Her ideas for the trapezoid formations: places for holy animals before sacrifice them, or field claims connected with filter galleries, observatories or places for ritual ceremonies of the different clans.
• Professor Gerald Hawkins - No astronomical context - Hawkins and his group went to Nazca to prove the astronomical Theory of Maria Reiche. The made new and precise survey and analyzed the course of important stars by using new computer software. This Software included the star positions of the last 6900 years. After weeks of work they had very disappointed to say: We didn't find any astronomical context.
• Jim Woodmann - The Balloon Theory - Jim Woodmann made a experiment in Thor Heyerdahl's way. He let make a balloon of fine Peruvian cotton, and a basket made by Aymara-Indians. This flying object was called condor. Hot air from a fire was brought into the balloon, and really, the balloon flied away after the two pilots was escaped. So Woodmann had a new theory, they used black balloons to bury their kings.
• Prof. Anthony Aveni - Water-Cult - Anthony Aveni isn't a friend of the astronomical theory of Maria Reiche. He compares the Nazca-lines with the ceque-lines in Cuzco. Those lines will brought in connection with calendar, water and mountain deities. So he's the idea there's a connection between the Nazca-lines and the subterranean canalization system. In this way the Nazca-Indians celebrated a water-cult. Figures and lines was used for ceremonial dances.
• Michael Coe - Ceremonial Places - Michael Coe believes the Lines are sacred paths to walk by specific rites. But primary the lines was a offering for elders, heaven- and mountain-deities who spent water for fields.
• Siegfried Waxmann - Culture atlas - Siegfried Waxmann recognized a culture atlas of the human history in the Nazca-line-system.
• Professor Frederico Kauffmann-Doig - magic lines - The famous Archaeologist has the theory, that the lines of Nazca are magic lines which origin from the cat cult in Chavin de Huantar.
• Georg A. von Breunig - Sport stadion - Breunig has the idea that Nazca was used for sprinting to honor especial gods or ritual competitions. This theory was supported by the famous professor Hoimar von Ditfurth.
• Markus Reindel / David Johnson - Water Cult and Dowsing - David Johnson believes that the Nazca-Figures are markers for subterranean water flow. Trapezoides show the broadness of the water stream, zigzag lines show where they end, lines show into direction of the puquitos. Reindel sympathizes with Johnsons Theory, additionally he explain the nature of the figures by rod-dowsing (to find the subterranean water) and shamanistic flights (to overview the figures).
• Wolf-Galicki - Signals from Extraterrestrial Beings – The Canadian Galicki recognize in the Nazca-System doubtless signals of a extraterrestrial race. Only using this point of view the big planning and work performance is plausible.
• Hermann E. Bossi - The Nazca-Code - Bossi's theory bases on a formation called the GGF, Mandala or Zodiac that was discovered by Erich von Däniken 1995. This formation include a plenty of different combination possibilities and include information about the Star HD 42807 at different times and it's planet. Other formations like the monkey seems to be of this code too. The same code is to find in other places like Stonehenge, Avebury and Borobudur, but also by Crop Circles.
• The Code of Carl Munck: The Ancient Geomatria of Numbers - The ancient sites around the world are very precisely positioned on a global coordinate system in relation to the position of the Great Pyramids of Giza. The positions of the sites are given in the geometry of their construction. A very ancient system of numbers was used in the system, which we will call "Gematria." Gematrian numbers are found in ancient myths and religions, including the Bible. Gematrian numbers were used in systems of weights and measures by ancient peoples, including the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Babylonians and the Romans. The Code system uses mathematical constants, such as pi and the radian. The system also uses conventions that are still in use, such as the 360 degree circle, 60 minute degree, 60 second minute, the base-ten numbering system, the 12-inch foot, and the 5280-foot mile. The ancient Mayans used Gematrian numbers in their very accurate timekeeping. The Nazca Line ground markings "locate themselves" on The Code Matrix System.
• Professor Helmut Tributsch - Fata Morgana - Tributsch has the idea that important cult places like Stonehenge, the Pyramids and naturally Nazca were built on places where often the Fata Morgana - Phenomena occurs. In this way People could see the Fata Morgana of the Nazca-Lines.
• Jiri Mruzek - The Seal of Atlantis - Jiri Murzek has another solution to Nazca Lines, and Figures. It is a very complete solution of the monkey's figure. It involves geometrical code, which speaks of specific aspects of analytical geometry. This code coincides with the code of prehistorical La Marche, France.
• John D. Miller - 177 Feet - John D. Miller analyzes different buildings worldwide. So he found in ancient buildings and old cathedrals often the value of 177 Feet. His theories are based on several holy numbers and units, so he believes that there is a deeper importance within.
• Thomas Wick - A plan of a Cathedral - He's a private researcher of ancient mysteries. When he saw the figure of the GGF, he recognized the ground principals of a cathedral.
• Bray Warwick - The Age of the Nazca-Lines - In the heat stones perform a patina of manganese oxide, traces of iron and clay minerals. Below the stone advanced mushrooms, lichens and cyanobacterias. Such stones in neighborhood to the lines could be used to analyze the organic matter by C-14-Method. The idea is those stones was turned during the line-drawing. In this way values between 190 B.C. and 600 A.D. could be found. How many stones was analyzed? Only nine pieces!
• Professor Henri Stierlin - loom - Stierlin thinks the Nazca-Indians used the line-system as loom. In the paracas-culture was made textiles witch was made of one string. But the Indians hadn't wheels and looms, so they organized hundreds of men who held the string. Their position was defined by the lines.
• Dr. Zoltan Zelko - Map - The Hungarian mathematician Dr. Zoltan Zelko analyzed the Nazca-line-system and compared with other ancient places in Peru. So he found out that Nazca could be a map of a 100 x 800 kilometer including region around the Titicaca-Lake.
• Evan Hadingham - Hallucinogens - Evan Hadingham's proposal to solve the Nazca-Mystery is the use of powerful plant hallucinogens like Psilocybine. In this way they made shaman flights and saw the formations at the area. The reason behind the lines are mountain-deities.
• Prof. Helaine Siverman - Clan Signs - Helaine Siverman, the co-author of Anthony Aveni has additional the idea that the figures are clan signs of different Indian clans in the region of Nazca.
• Prof. Dr. Aldon Mason - Signs for Gods - The main interest of Mason are the tombs and the deformation of skulls of the Nazca-Culture. About the lines his comment is: Signs for Gods in the Sky.
• Albrecht Kottmann - Writing system - Albrecht Kottmann tried another approach to the Nazca-Mystery. He divided the figures into different parts and analyzed them in a geometrical way. So he divided a bird of 286 Meter length into 22 Parts. So he found that the head takes two parts, the neck five parts, the body three parts and the other twelve parts for the beak. The proportion between the beak and the rest is 6:5. Kottmann believes the geometric signs are a picture writing system with giant and small letters.
• William H. Isbell - provision of work - He's the theory that the kings of Nazca ordered the drawing of the nazca-line to control the population. When they did work they couldn't make children at the same time. Why this? Isbell has the idea the Nazca-Indians wasn't able to store field fruits, so in good years the population were increasing to strong.

Sources

http://www.archaeologyonline.net

http://www.nazcamystery.com/