On the occasion of the completion of 35 years since the cruel and heinous murder of Pavlos Bakoyannis, on September 26, 1989, by the terrorist organization November 17 and honoring the 50 years of Parliamentary Democracy since the Post-colonization (1974 – 2024), the Hellenic Parliament gave the hall 168 of the Parliament the name “PAULOS BAKOGIANNIS”.

Outside the hall, a plaque was placed with the inscription “PAVLOS BAKOGIANNIS hall”, which was unveiled by the President of the Parliament, Mr. Konstantinos Tasoulas, together with the MP Ms. Dora Bakoyannis and their grandchildren. Inside the hall was hung a painting with the portrait of the late Pavlos Bakoyannis, the work of the distinguished Alexandrian visual artist Kostas-Iraklis Georgiou, known by the pseudonym Kostas. The portrait was given to the Parliament by his family.

The President of the Hellenic Parliament Mr. Speaking at the naming ceremony, Konstantinos Tasoulas emphasized that “today, with the unveilings we are doing and the general decision of the Parliament to dedicate a room to him, we prove that the term of Pavlos Bakoyannis, who deprived the hand of terrorism, we do not want it to be interrupted.” He added that “the Parliament of the Greeks today, with its decision, continues the term of Pavlos Bakoyannis in the national Parliament, in spite of terrorism, in spite of murder, in spite of oblivion”.

Mr. Tasoulas recalled a passage from the historic speech of Pavlos Bakoyannis, on August 30, 1989, in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, during the discussion of the urgent bill for the removal of the consequences of the civil war. As he wrote in that speech, “it is Greece that we are fighting for, it is our people, it is the Democracy and then come the ideologies and programs. In other words, we can and do disagree, because we can co-exist.” As the President of the Parliament underlined, “this man, this initiator and creator of reconciliation was brazenly murdered by the domestic, hideous terrorism of November 17”.

The President of the Parliament pointed out that Pavlos Bakoyiannis “had no illusion that we should ignore or erase history. He just wanted, knowing the history, not to turn it into a torture for our time. History is knowledge and teaching. It is not a punishment for the times we live in so that we perpetuate it. And we can both know it and be taught it, but also keep up with our times. And our time, Bakoyannis judged, demands reconciliation”.

For his part, the son of the late murdered journalist and politician, former Mayor of Athens, Mr. Kostas Bakoyiannis, who attended the ceremony accompanied by his family, pointed out with emotion that “the ideas of Pavlos Bakoyiannis, even if some tried to bury them, were seeds. A seed that sprouted, a seed that became a tree. A tree that today produces fruit for Greece, for his country Evrytania, for his party New Democracy, for the new generations, for the very
Democracy”.

As he underlined, “his brutal murder interrupted his parliamentary course, interrupted his course towards and for a new political logic and morality. After all, this was the avowed purpose of the terrorists.”

Mr. Bakoyiannis thanked the Hellenic Parliament because, as he said, “the honor given to our father today is precious and great”, underlining that “it has great meaning, especially for our children, that 35 years after his murder, his memory remains alive”.

The naming ceremony was also attended by the daughter of Pavlos Bakoyannis, Mrs. Alexia Bakoyannis, as well as the brothers of Mr. Anastasia Kasvikis and Mr. Nikos Bakoyannis.

Also present were members of the government, the former Prime Minister Mr. George Papandreou, the former Presidents of the Parliament Mr. Anna Psarouda-Benaki and Mr. Apostolos Kaklamanis, the Leader of the Official Opposition Mr. Nikos Androulakis, members of the presidium of the Parliament, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. Theodoros Roussopoulos, party representatives, MPs and Parliament officials.