The Municipality of Chania and the National Foundation for Research and Studies “Eleftherios K. Venizelos” jointly issued an announcement entitled “The Tombs of the Venizelos are not a place for party events”, a few hours before the event announced yesterday by the candidate for its president SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, who will start his official tour from Chania.

In detail, the announcement states the following:

“The site of the Tombs of the Venizelos at the Prophet Elias in Akrotiri is a place of historical memory with strong symbolism, it is connected to key moments of Cretan history, with the bloody struggles of the Cretans for freedom and union with Greece, it was chosen by the Eleftherios Venizelos for his final residence, while his son, Sophocles, is also laid to rest here.

A similar event of a partisan nature has never been held in the past at this point. As an expression of respect to the historical memory of the leading Greek leader, it is customary for politicians to lay a wreath.

This intervention has absolutely no character as a personal attack against a presidential candidate in an internal party process. It is an expression of strong reservations and our anxiety for a separate point of reference, of national importance, which obviously must transcend narrow party boundaries and personal strategies. Especially today, in an age when role models are sought and Venizelos’ visions and legacies continue to inspire.”