Greek Parliament President announces ‘Greece 2021’ committee

On Thursday, Greece officially launched the proceedings of a 31-member committee, who will be overseeing preparations for ‘Greece 2021’ to mark the bicentenary of the 19th-century War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the creation of the modern Greek state.

Parliament President Constantine Tassoulas declared the commencement of the proceedings of the "Greece 2021" Committee and its cooperation with the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy.

The event was attended by the President of the Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The PM said the bicentennial will be an opportunity to become re-acquainted with Greek history and identity.

Speaking at a special session of the Parliament, Mitsotakis also said: “Today we are called upon to re-position Greece in the world and I expect that the 200 years since the Greek Revolution will be highlighted by the years ahead of us.”

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who was the President of the bidding and organising committees for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, is the head of the “Greece 2021” committee.

It was also revealed that historians Stathis Kalyvas and Mark Mazower, along with Nicos Mouzelis, a sociology professor at the London School of Economics, and Konstantinos Tsoukalos, a renowned Greek sociologist and criminologist, will all be joining the 31-member bicentennial committee.