London Greek Radio

The Christmas Countdown Party

Join us on Friday 9th December 2016 for our Christmas Countdown Party @ Club Azure in Enfield.

♫ ♪

Our DJs Andreas Demetriou & DJ Sooty will be on the decks! They will be mixing non-stop Greek & English hits, all night long. Fusing all the best Modern Laika, Greek Club, Greek Classics, English club anthems, RnB & Garage.

♫ ♪

Doors open at 9pm and we’ll keep you dancing till 3am. For table reservations call Club Azure on 07789 488470.

♫ ♪

Book your tickets NOW!

[Strictly over 18s. NO ID, NO ENTRY, NO TRAINERS].

Sell tickets online: Skiddle Promotion Centre

Greece, Cyprus and communities from both nations around the worldare celebrating ‘Oxi Day’ today, October 28, which commemorates the rejection by Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas to the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on this day in 1940.

Student Parade in Athens

76 years ago, Greece staged a counter-attack against the invading Italian forces on the Pindus mountains during the Greco-Italian War, and the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation.

This ultimatum was presented to Metaxas by Italy’s Ambassador to Greece, Emanuele Grazzi, shortly after 3am, who had just come from a party at the Athens-based German Embassy.

It demanded that Greece allow Axis forces to enter Greek territory and occupy certain unspecified “strategic locations” or otherwise face war.

It was allegedly answered with a single laconic word: όχι (No!). However, it is rumoured that his actual reply was, “Alors, c’est la guerre!” (Then it is war!).

In response to Metaxas’s refusal, Italian troops stationed in Albania, then an Italian protectorate, attacked the Greek border at 5:30am—the beginning of Greece’s participation in World War II.

In response Greek citizens took to the streets, irrespective of political affiliation, shouting “όχι! (No!)”.

MILITARY, STUDENT PARADES

From 1942, it was celebrated as ‘Oxi Day’ first mostly among members of the resistance and after the war by all Greeks.

During the war, October 28 was commemorated yearly by Greek communities around the world and in Greece and Cyprus, and after World War II it became a public holiday in both countries.

The events on that day are commemorated every year with military and student parades. On every anniversary, most public buildings and residences are decorated with Greek flags.

The Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has renewed his promise to work from the opposition in order to help bring about a settlement to the Cyprus issue and also press the UK Government to fulfil its obligations as a guarantor power towards the island.

From Left to Right: Vasilis Panayi (LGR presenter) – Cyprus High Commissioner to the UK Evripides Evryviades – Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn – Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry – Famagusta Association President Vassilis Mavrou

Attending a Famagusta Association of Great Britain dinner in north London on Sunday evening, the leader of the major opposition said: “We ’ve had the invasion, we ‘ve had the loss of life, the destruction, the partition, we ‘ve had the loss of property and the refusal of the refugees’ right to return. The Annan plan was rejected because it didn’t cover the requirements of the Cypriot people as a whole; it has to be rethought and a new plan has to be put together. It won’t work unless it is accepted by everybody and this has to be the basis on which the new plan will develop and that’s what we will be working on in opposition and hopefully in government.”

Corbyn added that there are now two tasks ahead: to politically push as hard as possible for a deepening of the dialogue between the communities in Cyprus in order to achieve a settlement that enables people to return to their homes and the “disgrace” of what’s happened to Famagusta to be righted; and also to ensure that the British government takes its responsibility towards Cyprus very seriously.

“When a country takes up a responsibility of guarantor of independence as Britain did in 1960, that is a very serious long term responsibility. We recognise that, we understand that. I want a government that bases its foreign policy on peace, on justice, on human rights, on international law… That means accepting our responsibilities, that means ensuring there is a peaceful solution to the conflicts, bringing people together and also recognising the deep injustices that were done in 1974, when that invasion took place. And if that means a difficult relationship with some big powers in order to assert our determination to uphold the rule of law and human rights, then so be it,” said Jeremy Corbyn.

He also praised the “incredible” contribution of the UK Cypriot community to London and the British society, commenting that they should feel proud of what they have been doing for Cyprus and their adopted country.

Corbyn was accompanied by his wife and other members of his family, as well as the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry. In her short address she referred to her personal relation to Cyprus, where her father lived for many years after first visiting the island as a UN peacekeeper.

She described her experience of visiting Famagusta and Varosha, where she saw a town frozen in time, fenced off from the rest of the world after the Turks “invaded”, and left to “rot” ever since. Thornberry said she understood how people feel strongly about Famagusta and that there must be a settlement for the future of Cyprus and one that properly looks at what happens with the town.

“We can never undo the injustice done to Cyprus and its people, who still live with that injustice today…  But we can hope that the new generation brought up in the beautiful island of Cyprus will not have to live with the division and the injustice; we can hope that given the leadership shown by President Anastasiades they will grow up in peace and security in a united and democratic Cyprus, where we can lay to rest the grievances of the past, but we must make proper reparation for the injustices of that past, including the injustices done to the families of Famagusta,” said Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary.

“Jeremy and I will continue to support that process and we will uphold the position of the UK as a protector of peace and the guarantor of the independence of Cyprus and will continue to stand with you in the pursuit of justice,” she added.

The High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to the UK Euripides Evriviades thanked Corbyn for his long-standing support of Cyprus and he also praised the UK-Cypriot community, describing its members as the “true ambassadors” of Cyprus.

He noted that Famagustians and Cypriots only ask for Famagusta to return to its rightful owners and for “the sun of freedom, of justice and human rights to shine across all of Cyprus and all Cypriots”.

As he commented, “all Cypriots, irrespective of their background, are not children of a lesser God” and they want “nothing more and nothing less than what other freedom-loving people enjoy”, concluding that “what is good for the rest of the 27 EU member countries would certainly be good for the 28th.”.

The Famagusta Association President Vassilis Mavrou called upon the UK Government to adopt a more “proactive” role and to exercise its right as guarantor power in order to “assist in the removal of the illegal military occupation of the northern part of Cyprus.” He stressed that the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants would be a confidence building measure that would facilitate a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.

Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras said Friday the argument against the continuation of the system of guarantees in Cyprus was met with understanding on the part of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, during separate meetings they held in Brussels.

Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras

Speaking after the conclusion of the European Council, Tsipras said that “I discussed the issue with President François Hollande and Angela Merkel, and met absolute understanding”. He went on to say that a viable solution to the problem can not provide for the presence of Turkish troops on the island.

In response to a question by CNA, Tsipras also reiterated the Greek position, that the framework of guarantees in Cyprus is anachronistic and needs to be abolished.

According to the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Greece was one of the guarantor powers in Cyprus, the other two being Turkey and the UK.

The Greek Premier added that he had a positive conversation with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, who told him that her country will not request guarantor rights, if the issue is not raised by other parties.

Speaking on the issue of migration, Tsipras expressed satisfaction over Council conclusions, that target smugglers and aim to substitute illegal flows with legal ones. He was firm, however, on the issue of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, which he said will happen only through the implementation of all criteria by Ankara, with no exception for any member state, including Cyprus.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Peace talks are currently underway to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country, under a federal roof.

Pantelis Pantelidis passed away tragically on 18th February 2016 and since his death his fans have not stopped requesting his back-catalogue of tunes on the LGR air-waves. The listeners are making his musical legacy stay alive forever.

Since the 28th June, a wonderful and very emotional tribute song composed and released by Stavros Konstantinou who is a Cypriot singer/song writer -; the zeimbekiko song, and the lyrics are written by Rafail Efstathiou. The track ‘Sta Asteria Ekane Premiere Afieroma Ston Pantelo‘, since the time of writing has bought over 883,888 YouTube hits.

Stavros Konstantinou is not only singing the song, but telling an emotional story, envisioning a scene of Pantelis Pantelidis singing to the angels in Heaven. The lyrics of this song paint a picture of enormous depth and one can almost see and hear him performing his immutable bouzoukia amongst the stars… ‘ekei psila gia panta’ the verses are saying in Heaven… surely the angels have gained a very soulful Laiko singer who will be entertaining and captivating in eternity, and his fans are playing his songs continuously.

The reaction to his songs from our loyal listeners has been extremely positive making this song an instant hit according to the amount of emails posted to the London Greek Radio’s in-box, non-stop phone-calls, tweets and Facebook all obviously agreeing with us about the song being an exceptional, honest and genuine tribute.

I’m sure you have heard it many times before and like myself, cannot hear it enough, and so here I have written the lyrics for you to read. The melody will play in the depth of your heart.

Kleisan apopse oi Aggelou, prwto trapezi pista,
Na akousoun ithelan ki autoi, auton ton neo artista

Gia agapes pou exoune xathei, ergrafe sto xarti tou,
ta logia pou tragoudiaei vgainan ap’ tin psixi tou…

Ena vari Zeimbekiko, ston Xaronta xoreuei
kai me ta xeria anoixta, apo psila mas vlepei…
Giato ki apopse o ‘Arxontas den tha ‘nai sto sanidi,
ton zilepsan oi Aggeloi kai thelan Pantelidi…

H mana tou, tou fonaze: ”Gyrna paidi mou piso”
Tis eipa: Mana den mporw angelous na lipisw

Xwris esena perasan oi mines me akoma,
pote mou den katalava, pws vrethikes sto xoma.

Hear the songs of the LEGENDS Grigoris Bithikotsis, Yiannis Parios and Stratos Dionysiou sung by their own sons at this exclusive event produced by Prive Productions! Enjoy an evening with the songs and music that form the pillars of Greek music and entertainment today. Join us to sing, dance, drink and celebrate the epic all-time classics that have been sung by these three legends, brought to you by their own flesh and blood – its the next best thing to seeing the legends live – which alas can now never happen. DON’T MISS THIS!

FRIDAY 4th NOVEMBER

Regency Banqueting Suite: 113 Bruce Grove, London N17 6UR

Songs Of Our Fathers

We watched the game, Greece vs. Cyprus from the arm-chair, or more like a seat that swivels from the LGR offices.

It was the first time these neighbouring teams met, making history in an awesome competitive game. The stakes were very high as either a win or a draw, would be help to the sides chances to qualify for the World Cup finals 2018 in Russia.

Friday night October 7th at 19:45 at the Football Stadium Georgios Karaiskakis, we finally had kick-off…

The match was full of excitement, as the visiting team, Cyprus, were quick to go on counter-attack and creative, troubling Greece’s defence to the approving roar of the visiting 1,500 Cypriot fans making the trip to Piraeus. Greece’s make-shift midfield brought in Kostas Stafylidis replacing Andreas Samaris who was injured next to Giannis Maniatis as holding midfielders, and they were tested by the ambitious Cypriot team who pressed forward in the early moments of the game.

Mitroglou fires home the first goal at 12′ minutes

Despite our plucky Cypriot showing, it was the in-form Kostas Mitroglou opening the score in the 12 minute, with a fine shot. Kostas Fortounis took hold of a loose ball in the Cyprus box and fed incoming Mitroglou who slid the ball past Cypriot keeper Kostas Panagi and his strike making it two goals out of two qualifiers for him.

Taking full advantage of a Cypriot goalkeeping error by Panagi, Greek player Petros Mantalos made it two at 42 minutes before Half-Time crucially.

2-0 ahead for Greece, job well done for the German coach Michael Skibbe of the Greek team, who prior to the game said they had a need to erase Euro 2016’s qualifying phase for them and pick up points helping them to get closer to the qualification to the World Cup which is to take place in two years.

Second-Half, Cyprus showed desperate signs of immediately trying to take something from the match, with efforts by Nestor Mytides and Giorgos Efrem, and was unlucky not to score as they caught Greece’s defence by surprise with again their ambitious counter-attacking style. The second half continued and it seemed an air of content was clearly taking over; both teams were looking increasingly to the full-time whistle.

So, it seems both sides were turning their mind to Monday when they have equally very serious qualifiers to think about. All in all, Greece are definitely the happier outfit with two wins out of two games following the 4-1 away victory over Gibraltar, completing four wins on the trot. Cyprus is yet to register a single point and will be hoping with enough time ahead to make their impression for Group H’s qualification phase.

Both countries meet again in Nicosia on 7th October 2017 to wind up the campaign.

Greece is now joint top of the table along with Belgium and on Monday the team will travel to Estonia. Cyprus, still on zero points, visits Bosnia next.

Good luck Cyprus.

London Greek Radio is celebrating 33 years since first taking to the air on October 8th 1983, transmitting to the very huge community of Greek and Cypriot listeners, and not only. The sometimes turbulent history is absolutely fascinating; during the 1980’s LGR survived a number of police raids in attempts to close the station down, forcing it to relocate premises regularly, from above a Greek delicatessen in Muswell Hill to the up-stairs of a Dj’s house in Highbury.

LGR was not like other ‘illegal’ entities it was itself a pioneer for ethnic radio for listeners, serving the Greek speakers of London. LGR’s very being was definitely innovative and persisted despite the obvious drawbacks. LGR faced may problems and hard times but persisted and look at us today!

Ms Soulla Violaris is one of our longest serving Dj’s who started in the early days gave us her personal account. During one of her live shows she was interrupted by the authorities resulting in her arrest. She was taken to magistrate’s court and ordered to pay a fine. She felt it was right to continue at whatever cost or risk and her dedication and loyalty lead her to occasionally put in 9 hour shifts. The staff and Dj’s certainly braved much adversity and went to great lengths during the 1980’s to keep London Greek Radio being heard on air.

In a very interesting book ‘London’s Pirate Pioneers‘ this explains how a year before LGR was awarded its legal licence, authorities made their largest ever raid on them.

The biggest action ever taken by the authorities against LGR came in 1988 when the police raided LGR’s offices, yet again, only this time they confiscated all paperwork related to the station. In a case at Highgate Magistrates Court in July, companies and staff associated with London Greek Radio were fined £13,900 plus £10,550 in costs and expenses.

After losing several hundred transmitters over the years, LGR was awarded the North London Community License, returning to the air on 13th November 1989. For the first three years they had to share the frequency with an African speaking station WNK who unfortunately went out of business soon after.

The licence was granted with the essential help of tens of thousands of people who signed petitions demanding the legitimacy of LGR. The public’s voice made it clear that there was a void and vital space to fulfil for the Greek Cypriot’s long, robust community in the UK.

The station’s iconic status is truly still relevant and very popular today, and the LGR family continues to grow and expand with talented radio hosts and DJ’s entertaining our community with Greek songs for every genre, that the Greeks are known to have in absolute abundance.

Given the huge advances in technology, LGR is live on 103.3 FM and can be found on DAB in Birmingham and Manchester adding many thousands of extra listeners every month. It can be downloaded from the App store and the Play store. Our vast audience is not only Greek speaking listeners but also  English, Jewish, Albanian, Arab, Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian and so many more who are constantly tuned in.

It’s very exhilarating to know, LGR has by far the biggest downloads to on TuneIn with listener statistics via our LGR App outweighing the other Cypriot radio stations based in Cyprus on the basis of the numbers. According to the current statistics, LGR is officially No.1 downloads on #TuneIn when comparing to the equivalent Cypriot stations…

This fact about London Greek Radio is a fact to be proud of.

Happy Birthday LGR! May you live to be 100 and continue your hard-work; delivering informative and entertaining formats to your listeners.

Greece vs Cyprus.  The game is just hours away. The two sides will face each other for their massive 2018 World Cup qualifying clash. They will meet competitively for the first time in their history. They were selected during last year’s draw; it’s been a long wait for sure. Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Gibraltar complete the line-up for Group H.

In Piraeus at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, Friday 7th October at 19:45 GMT the whistle will blow and yes, we have kick-off.

The teams have contrasting fortunes from the first set of matches which started their campaigns only last month. Off to a flying start, the Greek team picked up three points after beating Gibraltar 4-1 away. On the other hand, Cyprus will look to get a few points on the board after they lost 3-0 to Belgium in Nicosia. Despite the early set-back, the Cypriot squad are highly motivated ahead of playing their neighbours in what should prove a very intriguing competitive derby between the countries.

Michael Skibbe the German coach of the Greece side had expressed how important it was for his side to secure a winning result. ”We have to concentrate with the first match with Cyprus, to take the three points with this same will we would hope to beat Estonia. We know that the next matches will be with Bosnia and Belgium, where we have to play two very good teams. Every point helps”.

He spoke about reviving the national team’s fortunes after the failure of the last qualifying campaign, was a low-point for the side. He made the point: ”Something has changed with the dynamic of the team. For two years we took a serious ‘beating’ and everybody does not want this. They want a change.”

Just before 13:30 on Wednesday, Cyprus’ national team arrived in Athens and as scheduled completed their first training session later at Agios Kosmas.

Christakis Christoforou’s men can draw inspiration from the fact that league champions Apoel with internationals such as Giorgos Merkis, Giorgos Efrem and Pieros Sotiriou within their ranks defeated Greek giants Olympiacos 1-0 at Karaiskakis Stadium in the Europa League last week thanks to an amazing goal by Sotiriou.

The Cyprus coach emphasised his team’s ethos of playing well and treating the game in a very ‘competitive’ way. He explained ”There are teams like Belgium who are very difficult to take a positive result. Our effort with Belgium until 60′ minutes was good. We have analysed the game and the mistakes and I believe we will be in a better shape against Greece.”

Cypriot midfielder Georgios Efrem took the point ”that the game is itself unique because of our common links we have with Greece. That said however in the match we will be opponents for 90’ minutes and I hope we can take a positive result.”

The nations have only previously met in friendly matches; Cyprus in the first ever meeting between the sides in 1963 in Nicosia; walked away with a 3-1 victory on that occasion. Since then the Greek side have got the better of their clashes albeit only friendly ones, with a superior head-to-head with 15 wins, 7 draws and only 3 loses to the Cypriot side.

Good luck and may the best team win.

Ban Ki moon’s Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide said on Monday that it is clear that territory chapter in UN peace talks for a Cyprus solution will soon have to be discussed and possibly before we go into at least the full-fledged discussions on security.

UNSG Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide (L) – T/C Leader Mustafa Akinci (M) – Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades (R)

Speaking to the press after a meeting he had with President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades and asked whether it is clear that territory will not be discussed with the chapters of guarantees and security, Eide said that at least one side and increasingly both sides “also recognise that we have to find the right modalities for that discussion, because that discussion is somewhat different than the discussion on governance“.

Eide, who met with President Anastasiades in view of the new round of intensified talks to start on Tuesday, pointed out that the issue of territorial exchange affects ordinary people in a slightly different way than i.e the quotas in the central Bank board.

“Both issues are important, but we have to respect that and find a way to discuss it (territorial), which also connects with other issues in an appropriate manner and also both sides can feel that we are ready for the final discussion“, Eide said.

Invited to comment on opinions expressed about discussing the issue of territory abroad, SG Special Envoy said that the two leaders will meet tomorrow and they are committed to create the space, “both physical and more in a mental sense”, to be able to deal with issues which are so sensitive.

“Where exactly that will happen I think I will leave it to them to decide and announce. This is a leader led process. I keep insisting on that, is actually led by the leaders and nobody else, not by me, not by Ban Ki-moon, not by anyone else in the island, is led by the leaders and if this is going to work, we have to respect the leader led nature of the process“, he underlined.

Eide also said that thankfully, Cypriots have two leaders, Anastasiades and Akinci who want this to work, adding however that they both represent communities with divergence of views “and they have to represent different views that exist in their communities“.

“But my strong sense, confirmed today, is that they are in it for real and they try to solve this without any unnecessary loss of time“, he said.

Eide described his meeting with President Anastasiades as long and substantive, adding that we need now to focus on how we organise the coming days and weeks in the process.

He said that during the meeting UNSG had with both leaders in NYC on September 25th , they both presented a very similar picture to the SG of where we are, what has been achieved and what remains to be done “and they recommitted to their noble goal of seeking a settlement if possible at the end of this year“.

“But we still have to agree on how we sequence things and how we organise the coming days and weeks“, he said.

He said that during the leaders` meeting tomorrow, a plan will be decided as regards the meetings to follow, saying that there will be frequent meetings in October “in order to try to overcome those issues which are closed“.

According to Eide, the commitment is clearly there, pointing out that he heard it again from President Anastasiades today and he knows that the same goes for T/c leader Mustafa Akinci.

He said that in any peace process there are challenges of last mile or last miles, “which is when you see that a settlement is actually within reach, you also know that in order to get there you have to make some further agreements, concessions and in order to do that you really need to make sure that you have the right setting for doing it“.

“I think that is very much what we will discuss tomorrow and in the subsequent meetings, we will then start discussing issue by issue and try actually close them down so that we can move into the important issues of territory and eventually security, in an appropriate manner in Cyprus or wherever else, but as the leaders agree“, Eide said.

Anastasiades and Akinci embark on a new round of intensified talks tomorrow, under the aegis of the UN, with the aim to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.