ATHENS – Deputy Minister for Greeks Living Abroad Terence Quick released the following statement for the celebration of International Greek Language Day: “On February 9, the day of the memory of the national poet Dionysios Solomos, we celebrate the International Greek Language Day.

As the leading thinker of the 30’s generation, George Theotokas, said, Europe is like a garden that harmoniously gathers the most different flowers, the most incoherent colors.

I have the feeling that this particular figure is due to the splendor of the first sow, to the charm of the tireless, liveliness of the Greek language, which first planted the seeds in Europe for the complex of dynamic contrasts that constituted Greek-ness.

This unique spiritual creation, which is called the Greek language, is impossible to repeat in history, is the subject of the events organized by the Greek community today all over the world.

A pioneering idea, International Greek Language Day was formulated by the Federation of Greek Communities and Fraternal Organizations of Italy. The Greek Communities in Australia have been among the first to accompany the effort with their own initiatives, and others have followed. The Greek Government, listening to ecumenical Hellenism, fulfilled the deep commitment to the language of our people with the unanimous acceptance of the Greek Parliament.

Today, the Greeks living abroad celebrate with us the day of our language, which is our own way of understanding life itself, and demonstrating to the public our unified citizenry.

The ethos of Greek self-consciousness is expressed in the language of the Greeks, the first people in the history of civilization, who formed the ethos of citizens within a democratic city.

The International Greek Language Day will be a staple of the world human society, recalling in perpetuity that the language of the Greeks always leads to the Greek texts, which bear witness to the Greek way of dialogue and coexistence, namely the True Word, which gave birth to the universal values, still implies the modern civilized world, the one we call the free world, and respect for human rights.

Let us not forget that the two concepts, the pillars of Western civilization, “dialogue” and “democracy,” are Greek.