[ad_1]
In the towns of Psiloritis they are called “runners”. They are reputable people who try to smooth the differences between their fellow citizens so that violence does not escalate. However, if they “talk about weapons”, it is difficult to send them.
“When an avalanche falls, you see a lot of snow, the path is hidden. The sun must rise slowly so that the path is visible again. It is too early to talk about the next steps. There is no recipe because you are touching the pain of the other” , says Andreas Kokkinos, a priest in the neighboring town of Livadia, about the recent double murder in Anogia. He has mediated several times in the past as a conciliator. But if there is a dead person, the interventions of some people whose “reasons count” are not enough. After the George Xylouris and Lefteris Kalomiris murders, an entire society is expected to become involved in efforts to reach a “coexistence compromise” between the two sides.
Anogia residents have mobilized to end the cycle of violence. (Photos: APE / NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS)
So far, the reason for the verbal confrontation, which allegedly preceded the fire, is unclear from the evidence in the case. On the night of Saturday, May 2, the Rethymno police authorities were informed of the transfer of two shooting victims to the Anogia health center.
The autopsy on the seven-meter-wide asphalt road between the neighboring houses of the two deceased began two hours later. Eight empty cartridges and four pistol cartridges were found, as well as a piece of black cloth. The site was photographed and Google Earth attached a plan and map of the area to the case file. Manolis Kalomiris is charged with the murder of Xylouris. In his pre-trial apology, he stated that he clouded over and instinctively fired upon seeing his father dead.
It will take several days to obtain detailed responses to the incident from the laboratories of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Parallel to the police investigation, “peace mechanisms” have already been mobilized in the local community.
“Peace mechanisms”
Vassilis Vouidaskis, a retired professor of sociology at the University of Crete, had experienced similar attempts to prevent retaliation in Anogia, after the murder of Manolis Stratakis, 23, in April 2017 by a relative and a villager. This was the first homicide in the town after many decades (some locals date the previous murder in the town in 1964). Immediately after the incident, the author’s family left. They left their sheep in the winter and settled in Kastelli, Heraklion, where they spent the summer and winter.
When he says to “K”, Mr. Voudaskis visits them there regularly, trying to smooth them out. He wanted to avoid a hasty return to the village, which could have had unpredictable consequences. Similar contacts were made by other people, mostly “contemporaries,” that is, groomsmen, with the victim’s family.
Several months passed like this, until at the end of July 2018, the author’s relatives reappeared in Anogia. About 50 people gathered at the village primary school to announce the terms from one side to the other. Finally, their return to Cavalaria, the neighborhood where they had their homes, was accepted, provided their sheep did not return to their old pastures. It was as if a “social contract” had been signed, an informal harmonious coexistence agreement with mutual concessions between the two families.
Aris Tsantiropoulos, professor of social anthropology at the University of Crete, lived in Livadia for a year in 1992, became an engaged local banker, and closely studied the custom of chaos. This is what mediation in Crete is called (from the verb “siachno”, that is, I do). Typically, ranchers, teachers, doctors, or priests assumed the role of “go-between” in local communities. In recent years, it has often been observed that local government representatives are also trying to reconcile the parties to the conflict. A beating, theft of animals or usurpation, or even misunderstandings, in some cases could cause a chain reaction without the intervention of pacifists.
The pastures were and still are a cause of division or disputes in the mountainous Crete. (Photos: Enri Canaj)
As Mr. Tsantiropoulos writes in his article in the collective book “Andrisms: Representations of themes and practices from the medieval to the modern period”, mediation is more difficult if the opponents are related and live in the same village. Due to the “andropatropic bridal installation” system, they will necessarily be adjacent.
“Men build houses to settle down after their marriage near their father’s house. The last son cares for the parents and, in return, inherits the parental home. The result is that each settlement is most evident on livestock farms. mountain, is made up of groups of houses where each is dominated numerically by a large group of blood relatives, “says Mr. Tsantiropoulos.
The purpose of the “runners” is not to attribute justice and injustice. They are not judges to share responsibilities. They do not care about the past, but look to the future. “They usually say their purpose is ‘to shut down the job so they don’t close their homes,'” Mr. Tsantiropoulos explains to “K.” After visits and conversations between the two opposing parties, the engagement ritual generally ends. with a “commitment.” Mr. Tsantiropoulos describes that the participants at the table are traditionally only men, wine is chosen as a drink and raki is avoided (although it is a traditional drink in Crete, it has a high percentage of alcohol and can cause intoxication.) With the “shaking” of the glasses, I put it on and the reconciliation is sealed. As the salt dissolves in the water, so does their enmity, say the mountain peoples Baptize a child between two families is another way to validate the commitment.
Epigrams
A broker’s concern is to monitor the progress of long-term coexistence. Anogia lyricist Vassilis Skoulas has participated in similar activities in the past. However, he clarified that in case of loss of human life, we are no longer talking about shock. “Now this role is not taken by specific people, but the whole place is interested. You try to smooth the situation as much as possible with conversations and discussions, to distract people’s thoughts,” he says. Mr. Tsantiropoulos observes that after the murders, during the reconciliation effort, marriages may take place, that is, members of the more regional branches of family trees on opposite sides may marry.
In the case of the recent double murder in Anogia, a first approach step seems to have taken place at the funeral of Lefteris Kalomiris, one of the two deceased, when her daughter said at her funeral, according to the local newspaper “Anogi”: souls and we cry for both of us. May God give strength to both families to bear the pain and move forward so that everything ends here. “
From Venetian rule to today
Dispute resolution mechanisms have a long history in Crete. Mr. Tsantiropoulos identifies the first reports of engagements in the Venetian domain. The families then signed an agreement before a notary (notary public) that they would not continue the dispute. In the files of the notary Ioannis Krousos de Giorgis were found 33 documents from the period 1612-1639, which he himself called “istrommentia del amor”. They involved robberies, disputes, revenges, rapes. Over the years, other variants of reconciliation followed until we reached the “corridors.”
Mr. Tsantiropoulos is concerned if some older peacekeepers are now heard in various parts of Crete. The older “runners” became estranged due to old age, some died.
“The ‘runner’ is a man who loves social justice. New impressions are coming out that maintain the traditions,” says Father Kokkinos, adding that the institution has not become extinct in the villages of Psiloritis. As for the recent case in Anogia, she emphasizes that it will take time. “When the other person is in pain, they don’t scratch the wound,” he says. “The wound must be softened, God must enter, he must calm you, and then a human hand must enter.”
[ad_2]
