The committee of the great Greek Parade on 5th Avenue, in downtown New York, accepted the request of the coordinating committee for the struggle for accountability and justice for Tempe to parade "Battalion 57" and pay tribute to the 57 dead and stand with their families.
Christian Pappas
"Battalion 57" refers to the number of victims, as 57 were the fatal victims of the railway tragedy of Tempi.
The request submitted by the Tempe Coordinating Committee to the members of the Parade Committee was accepted during the nationwide gathering held Thursday night at the Stathakio Cultural Center in Astoria.
Taking the floor on behalf of the Coordinating Committee, Ms Frances Moschou stressed that the aim is to pay tribute to the victims and convey the demand for justice and transparency.
"Our sole purpose is to pay tribute to the victims of Tempe and send the message from New York for justice and transparency in this case that has shocked our country. We want to parade alongside you as proud Greeks with respect to the morals and values of the New York Diaspora. We know that some of you may have some reservations and objections to our wishes, but we would like to assure you that the Coordinating Committee that will be responsible for the organization will take care, with the help of the Parade Committee, to dispel any doubt about our intentions," Ms Moschou said.
The Committee has appointed as grand masters of ceremonies of the parade 1) His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras, 2) the expatriate General of the US Army Mr. Andreas Poppas and 3) the historic football club Olympiacos Association of Piraeus Fans, which celebrated its 100 years and won the Europe Conference Championship, represented by its President Mr. Evangelos Marinakis.
The actor-director Christoforos Papakaliatis will parade as honorary master of ceremonies and as guests will be the president of PASOK – and leader of the Official Opposition – Nikos Androulakis, the Regional Governor of Western Greece, Nektarios Farmakis, the Regional Governor of the North Aegean, Konstantinos Moutzouris, the Mayor of Tilos, Maria Aliferi-Kamma and the three-time Olympic gold medalist in Weightlifting, Pyrros Dimas.
In addition, the Hellenic College of Thessaloniki, which will be represented by a contingent of flag bearers of the College, and the Philharmonic Band of the Municipality of Heraklion have been invited.
The great Greek parade on the 5th Avenue in downtown New York City – held to commemorate every year the anniversary of the liberating Greek Revolution of 1821 – will take place this year on Sunday, March 30.
