For Immediate Release: December 29, 2008
Contact: Foti Maktritoxonis, Long Island, Tel. 1-631-804-1673
Ioannis Fidanakis, New Jersey, Tel. 1-973-464-0211
Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935
John Soudas, Seattle , Tel. 1-206-948-8356
NEW YORK—The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) has been informed by founding member of CANA , and selfless activist and proud Phil Hellene and Chinese American Foti Makritoxonis recently, that CNN broadcast a TV commercial for FYROM in its December 28, 2008 evening broadcast displaying what is perceived to be an artistic rendition of the STAR OF VERGINA. The TV commercial on CNN is apparently for FYROM or Slav-Vardarska. The commercial is titled “Macedonia Timeless by Milco Mancevski “and can be viewed in this you tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtYrDVqr7IQ
SLAV-VARDARSKA VERSUS HELLENIC PRIDE
This current offensive CNN TV commercial follows on the heels of the spectacularly successful letter writing to STOP THE “MACEDONIAN” VISA CARD initiative by the combined efforts of Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) and , Hellenic League of America which was originally informed of the STAR OF VERGINA VISA Card issued for the Washington DC-based lobby UMD United Macedonian Diaspora , by activist Pantelis Kontos in New Jersey, who was made aware of this by the patriotic and informative public internet message board “MACEDONIA ON THE WEB” In turn, the main core of activists for CANA and Hellenic League of America sprung immediately into action to save Macedonian Hellenism. Foti Makritoxonis designed the “STOP THE ANTI-HELLENIC HATE! STOP THE ANTI-HELLENIC LOBBY!” campaign graphics and weblog: http://stoptheantihelleniclobby.wordpress.com/, the letter writing ACTION ALERTS and SPECIAL REPORTS were written by Nikolaos Taneris, and Ioannis Fidanakis and then sent out to the thousands of members of the CANA E-list.
WHO ARE WE AND WHO BACKS US
Basically , the initiative by the activist team of Foti Makritoxonis, Georgia Maratheftis, Pantelis Kontos, Sevasti Boutos , John Soudas, Nikolaos Taneris, and Ioannis Fidanakis and the amazing Network of journalists, writers, and bloggers and CANA E-list members created a thus far unprecedented letter campaign of support that included an official letter of Thank You from AHEPA to CANA, and a letter to the CEO of VISA, Mr Joseph Saunders co-written by Hellenic Congressional Caucaus co-Chairs US Congressional Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla) and US Congressional Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (Please see the CANA website for all original documents)
The Voice of America News in Greek transmitted the story of our letter writing campaign to save the STAR OF VERGINA, http://www.voanews.com/greek/2008-12-14-voa1.cfm
WE thank
http://www.qgazette.com/news/2008/1224/features/012.html
The use of all facets of the internet, smart letter writing and coordinated media savvy grass-roots activism makes us “an unprecedented Hellenic-American organization” according the respected writer and life-long activist for the Cyprus Cause, Michaelis Stylianou , in TO PARON:
http://www.paron.gr/v3/new.php?id=32639&colid=&catid=42&dt=2008-09-28%200:0:0
The reason why there is such a “buzz” about us, the reason why the Turkish and Slav-Vardaskan press attacks us and warns about us, the reason why so many grass-roots Hellenic-Americans and Phil Hellenes respond to our action alerts, and the reason why many of the most respected journalists and writers in the Hellenic world write so respectfully of us is because we are the real deal. We are not ‘ system players’ out to network the cocktail circuit in the prism of business first, church and diplomatic corps, unlike like so many large “established” well-heeled groups who have let down Hellenism for so many decades. Our Network is for Hellenic Pride World Wide. We are Hellene and Phil Hellene πατριώτες (Patriots)
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
All Hellenes and Phil Hellenes are encouraged to turn their backs on the “sell-outs” and come to us. Not only do we struggle against the enemy without, we also do not shirk away from pointing out those within the Hellenic-American community who support our enemy, who support false historical revisionism and appeasement to the illegal occupiers and Anti-Hellenism.
Our movement that was started by the small numerical core of Nikolaos Taneris, Sevasti Boutos, John Soudas, Georgia Maratheftis, Ioannis Fidanakis, Pantelis Kontos and Foti Makritoxonis successfully stopped the VISA card with the STAR OF VERGINA.
WE WON, “MACEDONIAN” LOBBY LOSES
The VISA Credit Card Affinity Partners INC. capitulated and offered us a public statement because of the pressure of letters and the very real plan we had to Protest the offices of VISA Credit Card Affinity Program in New York if no public statement was issued. The original letter can be found on Ioannis Fidanakis’ weblog:
http://enocism.blogspot.com/2008/12/cardpartner-releases-statement-on-umd.html
HELLENIC REVOLUTION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION
We are the only Hellenic-American organization that can and does organize demonstrations in America TODAY. No other organization can achieve this or can do this, and we challenge them to do so, EVERY YEAR we will Protest the Turkish Embassy on July 20th until the Turks pay for their Crimes and leave the Great Island of Cyprus forever. We challenge any Cyprus organizations in America to do so, or to dissolve, throw out their outdated and uninspiring “leadership” and join us.
For the record, Hellenic League of America was incorporated by with the assistance of Georgia Maratheftis, and was designed by visionary Nikolaos Taneris with the assistance of Ioannis Fidanakis, who is the current coordinator of Hellenic League of America. The core executive members of Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) are as follows Nikolaos Taneris, Sevasti Boutos, John Soudas, Georgia Maratheftis, Ioannis Fidanakis, Pantelis Kontos and Foti Makritoxonis and are interchangeable with Hellenic League of America.
Even though we achieved this victory over the “MACEDONIAN” VISA CARD, our enemies continue their relentless campaign of false historical revisionism and barbaric territorial aggression, the CNN TV commercial is the just recent example of Slav-Vardaskan assertiveness and flexing of muscle, the Turkish lobby ATAA is this month promoting a false historical revisionism movie about 1960s Cyprus, and this holiday season also hosted a “Macedonian and Turkish Mixer” at the Turkish Embassy.
We will continue to monitor, recruit and when necessary mobilize to fight back with radical action.
As a true grass-roots organization we value your complaints, advice, feedback or praise and can be reached by Email: CANA@cyprusactionnetwork.org
Join us, and support us, and stand up for Hellenic Human Rights.
HELLENIC REVOLUTION, HELLENIC PRIDE WORLDWIDE!
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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.
To be added to CANA’s Action Alert e-mail distribution list, or to introduce CANA to a friend or colleague, please forward the pertinent name and e-mail address, with the subject heading “Add e-mail to CANA distribution list”, to cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
You are encouraged to forward this action alert to five or more individuals who may have an interest in our e-distributions or in CANA’s mission.
You may post any CANA article, press release or action alert on the internet as long as you credit CANA and the author(s).
A Classic book for sale: The Pontian Question In The United Nations.
Michalis Charalambidis (International League For The Rights and Liberations Of Peoples)
Contribute Today by buying “The Pontian Question In The United Nations” for yourself or for friends,
Visit CANA grass roots You Tube channel
SPECIAL REPORT: VISA card offer upsets Greeks
December 11, 2008
SPECIAL REPORT: VISA card offer upsets Greeks
For Immediate Release: December 10, 2008
Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935,
Ioannis Fidanakis, New Jersey, Tel. 1-973-464-0211
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) and Hellenic League of America in coalition with the STOP THE ANTI-HELLENIC LOBBY (www.stoptheantihelleniclobby.wordpress.com) was informed through its grass-roots Hellenic activists that Card Partner Inc. and that the VISA card affinity program has reportedly “pulled” and/or “temperorarily removed ” the offensive VISA card that it designed with a “Star of Vergina” in collaboration with the Washington DC-based lobby “United Macedonian Diaspora UMD” Thus far, the phone conversations are not enough of a commitment to make sure that such offensive cards are never issues again by VISA, we demand a written statement and commitment from VISA.
We have yet to receive a written statement from Card Partner Inc. about the offensive “Macedonian” VISA card, and we have yet to see a commitment to cancel the card in writing. We ask that our grass-roots activists continue to ask VISA President Mr. William M. Sheedy to call on the CardPartner Visa affinity credit card program so it can be canceled at:
https://corporate.visa.com/ut/contactus.jsp
Our action alert about the “Macedonian” VISA Card, has managed to get considerable press coverage, the Serb media outlet SERBIANNA issued a news article on the dispute titled “VISA Card offer upsets Greeks”, December 10, 2008) , which IS reproduced below following STOP THE ANTI-HELLENIC LOBBY activist Ioannis Fidanakis’ follow up request today for a written statement from Card Partner Inc. on the Star of Vergina.
Please continue to visit our campaign blog for updates, action alerts , links and reports www.stoptheantihelleniclobby.wordpress.com
————————————————-
—–Original Message—–
From: oarchangelos@aol.com
To: mark.levitt@cardpartner.com
Sent: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:03 pm
Subject: UMD Violation of Copyrighted National Greek Symbol
Dear Mark Levitt
Card Partner Inc
37 West 20th Street
Suite 810
New York, NY 10011
Tele. (646)-652-7012
Fax. (212) 627-2019
I am contacting you today on the behalf of, Stop The Anti-Hellenic Lobby, (www.stopt heantihelleniclobby.wordpress.com) which is a growing grass-roots coalition organized by Hellenic-American activist organizations such as Hellenic League of America and Cyprus Action Network of America.
We recently spoke several days ago about a VISA affiliate credit card that your company helped create for the ‘United Macedonian Diaspora” – the UMD. In our conversation, I informed you that one of their card designs was in violation of copyright infringement, as the Vergina Sun aka Star of Vergina was copyrighted by the Greek government. I followed up our phone conversation with an email, in which, you affirmed information on the copyrighted symbol.
Hellenic-American activists have told us that in conversations with you, that you indicated to them that Visa has pulled this card design from the original rotation of designs offered by the program. Is this true?
We would appreciate written clarification from you that CardPartner Inc. did or did not “pull” the “Star of Vergina” symbol designed in collaboration with “United Macedonian Diaspora UMD”
Respectfully,
Ioannis Fidanakis
(973) 464-0211
———————————————————————————————–
(ARTICLE BELOW IS REPRODUCED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND FAIR USE)
SERBIANNA.com
URL: http://www.serbianna.com/blogs/newspost/?p=1132
VISA card offer upsets Greeks
December 10, 2008 – 8:14 pm
A VISA affinity card promoted by a group called United Macedonian Diaspora Fund (UMD) is deeply offending ethnic Greeks because the card uses the Star of Vergina, a Hellenic symbol from the ancient Greece.
“The United Macedonian Diaspora UMD a Washington DC-based lobby [is] promoting false historical revisionism,” says a statement of the Cyprus Action Network of America or CANA.
United Macedonian Diaspora UMD promoter, Denis Manevski, has failed to respond to our inquiries. Mr. Manevski declined to answer us after he replied twice to serbianna.com inquiries with questions of his own.
“Star of Vergina symbol that is copyrighted exclusively in all its forms by the Hellenic Republic, in violation of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of State Emblems, and Names, Abbreviations and Emblems of International Intergovernmental Organizations under the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization),” says CANA.
A Star of Vergina as promoted by the United Macedonian Diaspora Fund was originally used on the flag of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia but it was subsequently modified because it is a Greek symbol.
Nikolaos Taneris, of the Cyprus Action Network of America, says that the star used on FYROM flag is the “1995 diplomatic compromise with the Greek state which holds the trademark to the Star of Vergina”.
In 1945, communists, led by Croatian Tito and in cooperation with the Bulgarian-born adviser to Stalin, Georgi Dimitrov, decided to form a unique so-called “macedonian” church and a corresponding “macedonian” nationality out of the Byzantine recognized Serbian church parishes in today’s Macedonia, only in order to use that creation as a pretext to attack Greece and conquer parts of it.
Dimitrov advised Stalin and had influence on the international communist policy making body called Cominform. Cominform said that the Serbs are chauvinists and that Kosovo should eventually be given to Albania. Bulgaria and Macedonia have both recently recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
No Ecumenical Church has recognized the self-proclaimed “macedonian” church.
Bishop from Ohrid, Jovan, has been imprisoned by the Skopje authorities several times because he has suggested that the renegade “macedonian” church should unite back with its holy apostolic sea.
Bulgaria has recently marked it’s independence in Macedonia’s capital of Skopje while the opposition party in Bulgaria has demanded more land from Serbia and Greece.
Many in today’s Macedonia, despite that they are Slavs, believe that they are descendants of the Hellenic leader Alexander the Great to whom the Star of Vergina is attributed to.
Greece is worried that such beliefs are deliberately fostered by the government in Skopje in order to seek Greek territory and has vowed to block Skopje’s entry into NATO and other EU institutions unless it compromises on the matter.
“Using the United Macedonian Diaspora Affinity Credit Card for everyday purchases is an easy way for supporters to help further the Macedonian cause,” said Denis Manevski, UMD Treasurer, on the web site.
With offices boasting to be in Washington DC, Brussels, Canberra, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Stuttgart, Sydney, and Toronto, one of the United Macedonian Diaspora Fund missions is to “Defend the Macedonian ethnic identity”.
One can support VISA Macedonia card at:
http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/373/1/
The Cyprus Action Network of America urges to “Ask VISA President Mr. William M. Sheedy to call on the CardPartner Visa affinity credit card program” so it can be canceled at:
https://corporate.visa.com/ut/contactus.jsp
December 10, 2008
SERBIANNA
OI
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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.
To be added to CANA’s Action Alert e-mail distribution list, or to introduce CANA to a friend or colleague, please forward the pertinent name and e-mail address, with the subject heading “Add e-mail to CANA distribution list”, to
You are encouraged to forward this action alert to five or more individuals who may have an interest in our e-distributions or in CANA’s mission.
You may post any CANA article, press release or action alert on the internet as long as you credit CANA and the author(s).
Κάντε τα ψώνια σας με “Macedonian” Visa!
December 8, 2008
Ακολουθούν λεπτομέρειες και τρόποι αντίδρασης.
URGENT: URGE VISA TO STOP THE “UNITED MACEDONIAN DIASPORA VISA AFFINITY CREDIT CARD PROGRAM”
December 8, 2008
CURRENT STATUS
The “United Macedonian Diaspora UMD” a Washington DC-based lobby promoting false historical revisionism for the fascistic and irredentist Skopje government in FYROM ,is sponsoring a VISA card with the Star of Vergina symbol that is copyrighted exclusively in all its forms by the Hellenic Republic, in violation of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of State Emblems, and Names, Abbreviations and Emblems of International Intergovernmental Organizations under the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization.
The VISA affinity credit card program of CardPartner INC. reportedly designed the VISA card in collaboration with the “United Macedonian Diaspora UMD”; please see the UMD webpage detailing the card, which also offers the credit card of Alexander The Great in this webpage on their website: http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/373/1/
CANA activist Ioannis Fidanakis contacted CardPartner INC, of the copyright issue in regards to the use of the Star of Vergina and its protection under the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The email to CardPartner INC follows below:
—–Original Message—–
From: oarchangelos@aol.com <Ioannis Fidanakis>
To: mark.levitt@cardpartner.com
Sent: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 2:36 pm
Subject: Vergina sun symbol, copyrighted by Greece 1995
Dear Mark,
Hello I’ve attached just some basic information about the Star of Vergina and the copyright below from the WIPO web site. The last 3 links shows the 3 different designs based on the number of star bursts that are copyrighted by the Greek state. Also the flag is the official flag of the Macedonia inside the Greek state. So you can see where the problem would be with them having it on their card.
Here it gives info about the copyrights of flags and emblems.
http://www.wipo.int/article6ter/en/
For the bellow link where it says “state”, insert Greece, for “objection” insert
The former yugoslav rom.
http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/search/6ter/search-struct.jsp
———————————————————————-
*WHAT YOU CAN DO
Contact the President of VISA U.S.A. Inc , Mr. William M Sheedy, at VISA corporate headquarters
Please help us send a loud and clear message that the Star of Vergina is protected by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and that false historical revisionism by the anti-Hellenic lobby should NEVER be endorsed by VISA, Ask VISA President Mr. William M. Sheedy to call on the CardPartner Visa affinity credit card program to end collaboration with the fascistic and irredentist “United Macedonian Diaspora UMD” lobby:
By Mail:
Mr. William M. Sheedy, President of North American Operations
VISA U.S.A. Inc.
900 Metro Center Blvd.
Foster City, CA 94404
By Fax: 1-650-432-3631
By The VISA “Contact Us” webpage:
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO ADDRESS THE LETTER TO VISA PRESIDENT Mr. William M. Sheeny. Please make sure to personalize your letter and to include your name, address and phone number and please don’t forget to “click” the “submit” button on the bottom of the page in the link when you are done:
https://corporate.visa.com/ut/contactus.jsp
** Important: Please maintain a courteous and professional tone.
*** Please forward this web page to five or more friends or colleagues who you believe will act on it — after five cycles, your e-mail can generate 23,580 letters.
(To avoid “>>>” please copy and paste the entire text onto a new e-mail when forwarding)
For more information visit:
MACEDONIA ON THE WEB: UMD and VISA violated the WIPO Regulations
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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.
To be added to CANA’s Action Alert e-mail distribution list, or to introduce CANA to a friend or colleague, please forward the pertinent name and e-mail address, with the subject heading “Add e-mail to CANA distribution list”, to
cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
You are encouraged to forward this action alert to five or more individuals who may have an interest in our e-distributions or in CANA’s mission.
You may post any CANA article, press release or action alert on the internet as long as you credit CANA and the author(s).
