Politics of Greece

Greece's Communist Party, or KKE, has commemorated its wartime leader Nikos Zachariadis, whom it expelled in 1957.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to meet newly elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday morning in Cardiff, Wales. The meeting is being organized on the sidelines of a two-day NATO summit which ends on the same day.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and newly-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet on the sidelines of the upcoming NATO summit in Wales, according to reports.

The unofficial meeting was reportedly requested by Erdogan who recently irked the governments in Athens and Nicosia with calls for a two-state solution on the divided island.

Deputy Education Minister Costas Koukodimos resigned from his post on Monday citing personal reasons while reports indicated that his struggling businesses in Pieria, northern Greece, were the actual reason for his departure.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will meet with his coalition partner, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, and Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis on Monday ahead of crucial two-day talks with representatives of the country's lenders set to begin in Paris Tuesday.

As the government seeks to play down rumors about its choice of candidate for president, with the term of incumbent Karolos Papoulias set to end in February, Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis rebuffed rumors that he has been approached but did not explicitly rule out in his interest in the role.

A parliamentary group comprising 15 independent lawmakers asked member Nikos Nikolopoulos to resign Friday over his homophobic tweet concerning the Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has been engaged in a flurry of diplomacy, Kathimerini understands, ahead of a crucial European Union leaders summit in Brussels Saturday as well as next week’s talks in Paris between Greek government officials and troika representatives.

 Education, Administrative Reform ministry sources say pledges will be honored

Government officials on Thursday sought to play down a rift between Education Minister Andreas Loverdos and Administrative Development Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the possible firing of administrative staff at universities as part of a civil service overhaul demanded by the troika.

By Costas Iordanidis

Turkey, a country branded by some as undemocratic and maladjusted by European standards, recently elected a new president – Recep Tayyip Erdogan – in a vote that was transparent and with a clear result.