Maria Kanellopoulou (SYRIZA): …. But the thousands of Wehrmacht troops, the SS, the Gestapo, the Luftwaffe and tanks that drowned Greece in blood didn't come from the moon, nor from Sirius, nor from Thule, as their local epigones claim -- parenthetically, they don't pretend to be patriots, they celebrate Hitler's birthday and tattoo themselves with swastikas. [...] The Greece on which we are deciding has been borrowed from the youth, like Pavlos Fyssas, who was murdered by the epigones of the Nazis, those who dismantled the country 40 [70] years ago. To them we owe the truth. To them we owe the [war] reparation.
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis (Golden Dawn): Ms Chair of Parliament, how can you allow her to talk like that? Recall her to order! She has no right!
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis: She can't insult us like that. Has justice already issued a verdict?
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou, SYRIZA): Please sit down.
[...]
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis: And she [Kanellopoulou] spoke to us of Fyssas. Who does she think she is speaking to? Who? What was Fyssas to us? What? He was an excuse so that Samaras [New Democracy] and the others in the government [of ND-PASOK] could put us in jail, close our mouths, like me, put us on house arrest. That was the despicable, immoral, illegal, unfair act of the former Prime Minister...
[...]
[...]
Nikos Karathanasopoulos (ΚΚΕ): ... The bourgeoisie and its political representatives either openly collaborated with the conquerors or took off to Egypt and London. And it is a provocation for the political epigones of the collaborators, ie, Golden Dawn, to have the gall to accuse EAM and ELAS for the struggles they gave against the Nazi organizations of X and of the Security Battalions. Essentially, the honor and dignity of the Greek people was saved by the KKE. Because the Communist Party of Greece was the protagonist and organizer of EAM resistance, contributed to the crushing of nazism, along with the dominant role in this crushing that was played by the Soviet Union and the Red Army. [...]
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): Thank you, Mr. Karathanasopoulos.
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis: Ms. Chair, I' d like the floor on a personal matter or a quasi personal matter--however you choose to interpret it.
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): Please, Mr. Arvanitis, you have the floor for two minutes.
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis: Thank you, Ms. Chair. It is not acceptable to be called "Hitler's epigones" or "Nazism's epigones." That is an insult. I believe order should have been restored. But the speaker before me, a Stalin epigone, forces me to remind you of the following, that during the first meeting of the precinct of Western Macedonia, and in a discussion of Meligalas, Mr. Karathanasopoulos said "we killed too few of you there! We'll take care of you in the next round!" Word for word! He is here, so he can challenge my claim if he wishes.
Nikos Karathanasopoulos: My silence is your answer. Ms. Chair, I am not going to get into the trouble of answering at all.
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): I wish to bring the parliamentary body back to the spirit of the meeting, which must be a spirit of common spirit and of national consensus, regarding a claim everyone accepts and endorses [that of war reparations], not a spirit of references that will trigger divisive conversations.
Nikos Karathanasopoulos: Ms. Chair, I' d like the floor.
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): Please, Mr. Karathanasopoulos.
Nikos Karathanasopoulos: Look, we don't want to go on and on with this issue.
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): I really appreciate that.
Nikos Karathanasopoulos: Our silence is their answer, because we don't wish to speak with collaborationists --and there is no national consensus whatsoever--, with political descendants of Nazis, collaborators of the conqueror, with this Nazi construct of Golden Dawn.
Michael Arvanitis-Avramis: "We killed too few!", "Will anyone else have a bite?" said Aris Velouhiotis on his horse!
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): I think that historical memory is recorded in everyone and is indubitable. Let us not turn this discussion into a field of conflict, which of course has substance and historical relevance, but does not belong to tonight's discussion [on war reparations].
Nikos Karathanasopoulos: Commenting on every speaker is not your role, Ms. Chair.
Chair (Zoe Konstantopoulou): It is my role to interpret the feelings of the Parliamentary body, and I interpret the feelings of the body to be that we move on to the substance of the discussion and allow speakers to articulate their position. If I wanted to comment, I would have much to say.
Note: Maria Kanellopoulou's father was an ELAS officer. The GD MP insulted her in another point of the discussion, hinting that her father was a war criminal.
ReplyDeleteZoe Konstantopoulou's father, on the other hand, was a youth supporter of Giorgios Papandreou (senior), responsible for the mass slaughter of communists in December 1944. He was also the first Chair of Synaspismos, the core party of SYRIZA.
DeleteA few hours ago, the parliament voted not to revoke the Parliamentary immunity of KKE MP Nikos Karathanasopoulos, who has been sued, like a score of KKE MPs, MEPs and cadre members, for participating in worker mobilizations in the last four years.
DeleteNew Democracy and Golden Dawn voted to revoke his Parliamentary immunity.
Delete