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Kyriakos Velopoulos

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Kyriakos Velopoulos
Κυριάκος Βελόπουλος
Velopoulos in 2019
President of the Greek Solution
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 June 2016
Preceded byOffice established
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 July 2019
ConstituencyLarissa
In office
16 September 2007 – 11 April 2012
ConstituencyThessaloniki B
Member of the European Parliament
In office
2 July 2019 – 7 July 2019
ConstituencyGreece
Personal details
Born (1965-10-24) 24 October 1965 (age 59)
Essen, Ruhr, West Germany
Political partyGreek Solution (2016–present)
New Democracy (2012–2015)
Popular Orthodox Rally (2004–2012)
SpouseOlga Petropoulou
Children1
ResidencePanorama, Thessaloniki
Alma materCenter of Liberal Philosophical Social Studies
Open University of Cyprus
Profession
  • Politician
  • Journalist
  • Author
Websitewww.velopoulos.gr

Kyriakos Iosif Velopoulos (Greek: Κυριάκος Ιωσήφ Βελόπουλος; born 24 October 1965) is a Greek politician.[1] He is a member of the Hellenic Parliament and has been president of the Greek Solution political party since its foundation in 2016.[2] Velopoulos is a former parliamentarian for the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) and former member of New Democracy.[3] He is also a journalist, author and television personality.[3]

Early life and education

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He was born in West Germany and grew up in Thessaloniki, Greece. After his graduation from Dendropotamos high school, he studied journalism at the Center of Liberal Philosophical Social Studies (a private educational institution) in Thessaloniki under a scholarship and graduated from there in 1990.

He earned a bachelor's degree on Greek civilization studies from the Open University of Cyprus in 2013 and a master's degree in journalism from the same university in 2016.[1]

During his compulsory military service in the Hellenic Army, he served as an officer on the islands of North-Eastern Aegean Sea, and the Greek mainland. He is a member of the Academy of the Greek language in Germany and a member of the Union of Writers of Northern Greece. He was a member of ONNED, the youth organisation of New Democracy (ND) until 1988 and ideologically defines himself as belonging to the "patriotic ND".[4]

Political career

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In LAOS

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He was a member of the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), the right-wing populist party of Georgios Karatzaferis where he was a candidate in the 2004 Greek parliamentary elections, taking 5,700 votes. But he failed to be elected, because LAOS received only 2.19% of votes. In the regional elections of 2006, he was a candidate as Governor of Pella Prefecture where he came third with 7.11% and 2 seats. In the parliamentary elections of 2007 and 2009, he was elected in the B prefecture of Thessaloniki.[3] In 2010 Velopoulos was chosen by LAOS as its candidate in the region of Central Macedonia.[5]

In New Democracy

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On May 20, 2012, Velopoulos made the decision to leave the LAOS political party along with other politicians and joined the New Democracy party.[6][3] He proclaimed to support "the large centre-right faction with a European orientation" although he declined to run as a candidate in the 2012 legislative elections.[7] After a number of years with New Democracy, Velopoulos made the decision in 2015 to depart from the party with the aim of creating a new political party.[3]

In Greek Solution

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In 2016 he founded the Greek Solution party.[3][8] From 2016 onward he has served as president of the political party Greek Solution "Greek: Ελληνική Λύση", which won 10 national parliamentary seats in the 2019 Greek legislative election.[9][10] Following the 2019 elections Velopoulos holds the parliamentary seat in the prefecture of Larissa.[2] In the 2019 Εuropean elections, his party gained one seat for the Εuropean parliament. In the 2023 June and May elections the party managed to slightly raise its percentage from the previous elections. In the 2024 EU elections his party almost doubled its percentage climbing to an astounding 9.3% electing two MEPs[11]

Velopoulos has raised objections about the indictment of Golden Dawn's members and he has characterised the arrests of them as a well-played plot οrchestrated "by the domestic government and judicial system".[12]

Journalism

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As a journalist he has worked in a number of radio and television stations, such as "TV Thessaloniki", "Ερμής", "Best", "Top", "Opion", "TeleAsty", where he presented his two major shows "Η Βουλή" and "Ελληνόραμα", in which he promotes his books. Today he is presenter and owner of "Alert TV" channel.

Work as an author

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He is the author of Greece Bleeds, which he claims deals with the corruption of Greek society, army, legal system and politics, and Alexander, the Greatest of the Greeks, a detailed biography of Alexander the Great which includes arguments on the subject's Greek origins.

Controversy

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In 2012 it was revealed that he had sent the amount of €400,000 abroad,[13] amid fears of Greece defaulting.[14]

In 2014, Velopoulos advertised a book by the author Ioannis Papazisis entitled "Manuscripts reveal the unknown moments of Christ" through his telemarketing broadcast.[15][16] The book contains copies of manuscripts found in the monasteries of Mount Athos, including medieval manuscripts of the Jesus Abgar epistles.[17] Several years later during the run-up to the 2019 Greek legislative election, where Velopoulos was running for office, some Greek media outlets reintroduced excerpts of the 2014 book sale alleging that Velopoulos advertised "epistles of Jesus Christ".[15][18][19] This elicited widespread criticism from the Greek academic community and mainstream media, which disputed the historicity of these particular artifacts and accused Velopoulos of misleading consumers. Velopoulos initially denied having engaged in the sale of the letters, later acknowledging the fact and stating that he would continue to sell them, claiming that his critics lacked the knowledge necessary to dispute the letter's authenticity. He supported that the epistles are authentic and kept in monasteries of Mount Athos.[20][21][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kyriakos Velopoulos – Hellenic Parliament
  2. ^ a b Σαβούρδου, Μπέττυ (2019-07-08). "Τη βουλευτική έδρα στον νομό Λαρίσης κρατάει ο Κ. Βελόπουλος". ertnews.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Ελληνική Λύση: Αυτοί είναι οι βουλευτές που εκλέγονται". NewsIT (in Greek). 2019-07-08. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2023-05-14. Translation: Kyriakos Velopoulos is a Greek journalist, elected member of the European Parliament and president of the Greek Solution party, and former Member of Parliament of Thessaloniki II with the Popular Orthodox Rally party. In 2012, he joined New Democracy, from which he left in 2015 and a year later founded the Greek Solution.
  4. ^ "Kyriakos Velopoulos: 1,800,000 Are the Immigrants, 14 October 2007". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  5. ^ ΙΝ, Σύνταξη (2010-09-14). "O Kυριάκος Βελόπουλος υποψήφιος του ΛΑΟΣ στην Περιφέρεια Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας". in.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  6. ^ IEFIMERIDA.GR, NEWSROOM (2012-05-22). "Επισημοποιήθηκε η προσχώρηση του Κυριάκου Βελόπουλου στην ΝΔ [εικόνα]". iefimerida.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2023-05-14. Translation: Kyriakos Velopoulos is yet another member of LAOS who abandoned Giorgos Karatzaferis for New Democracy, after Makis Voridis, Adonis Georgiadis, Thanos Plevris ... The announcement of New Democracy is as follows: "The President of New Democracy, Mr. Antonis Samaras, met, today, with the former deputies of LAOS., Mr. Kyriakos Velopoulos and Mr. Pavlos Markakis. During the meeting, Mr. Velopoulos and Mr. Markakis informed the President of New Democracy that they are responding to his call for an all-out war of European forces and are joining New Democracy."
  7. ^ "Δεν κατεβαίνει στις εκλογές ο Κυριάκος Βελόπουλος". Newsbeast (in Greek). 2012-05-25. Archived from the original on 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-05-14. Translation: Former LAOS MP Kyriakos Velopoulos, who joined ND a few days ago, announced his intention not to be a candidate in the June 17 parliamentary elections. In a statement, he states that he did not leave LAOS for the chair, but supports "the large Center-Right faction with a European orientation and its program for the extraction of the country's mineral wealth, believing that it is the only realistic solution for the exit of the country from the crisis".
  8. ^ Real.gr. "Ο Βελόπουλος για την "Ελληνική Λύση": Η Δύση μας αδειάζει σε πολλά επίπεδα". Real.gr. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  9. ^ "Την "Ελληνική Λύση" θα παρουσιάσει ο Βελόπουλος στο ΣΕΦ". Newpost.gr. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  10. ^ "Αυτοί είναι οι βουλευτές της Ελληνικής Λύσης του Κυριάκου Βελόπουλου". www.skai.gr (in Greek). 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  11. ^ "Ο χάρτης των ευρωεκλογών: Οι επιδόσεις της ΝΔ ανά περιφέρεια, η ήττα των Κασσελίστας και το στάσιμο ΠΑΣΟΚ" protothema.gr (in Greek). 10 June 2024
  12. ^ Georgiadou, Vassiliki. "The State of the Far Right in Greece" (PDF). FES. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  13. ^ Ο Κυριάκος Βελόπουλος «φυγάδευσε» στο εξωτερικό 400.000 ευρώ
  14. ^ Greek default: What it would mean
  15. ^ a b "Επιμένει ο Βελόπουλος για τις "επιστολές του Ιησού": Με κρίνουν τεμπέληδες πολιτικοί αρχηγοί | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2019-05-28. Archived from the original on 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2023-05-16. Translation: Kyriakos Velopoulos ... in his telesales he had talked about "handwritten letters of Jesus", citing a book by Papazisis, which he says that as a historian he has checked. Ο Κυριάκος Βελόπουλος ... στις τηλεπωλήσεις που κάνει είχε μιλήσει για «χειρόγραφες επιστολές του Ιησού», επικαλούμενος βιβλίο του Παπαζήση, το οποίο λέει πως ως ιστορικός έχει τσεκάρει.
  16. ^ Papazisis, Ioannis (2014). Manuscripts reveal the unknown moments of Christ (in Greek). Thessaloniki [GR]: Kadmos. ISBN 978-960-6851-74-2. Archived from the original on 2023-04-22.
  17. ^ Papazisis, Ioannis. MANUSCRIPTS REVEAL UNKNOWN MOMENTS OF CHRIST (ΧΕΙΡΟΓΡΑΦΑ ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΠΤΟΥΝ ΤΙΣ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΣΤΙΓΜΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ) (in Greek). Kadmos. Archived from the original on 2021-06-01. Translation: Book Contents description: "ancient manuscripts we found on Mount Athos, which are several centuries old and have never seen the light of day before. ... MANUSCRIPT CODE 928 - HOLY MONASTERY OF VATOPEDI - EPISTLE OF ABGAR TO CHRIST AND CHRIST'S ANSWER TO HIM" (Original: "αρχαία χειρόγραφα που βρήκαμε στο Άγιον Όρος, τα οποία είναι αρκετών αιώνων και ποτέ πριν δεν είδαν το φως της δημοσιότητας. ... ΧΕΙΡΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΚΩΔΙΚΑΣ 928 - ΙΕΡΑ ΜΟΝΗ ΒΑΤΟΠΕΔΙΟΥ - ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΑΥΓΑΡΟΥ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΟ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΣ ΑΥΤΟΝ"
  18. ^ Newsroom (2019-05-30). "Βελόπουλος: Έκανα λάθος στην διάτυπωση χειρόγραφες επιστολές Ιησού (vid) | ΣΚΑΪ". www.skai.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2023-05-16. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ "Κ. Βελόπουλος: "Υπάρχουν τελικά οι επιστολές του Ιησού"".
  20. ^ in.gr (2019-05-28). "Κυριάκος Βελόπουλος: Από τις επιστολές του Ιησού στην Ευρωβουλή". in.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  21. ^ "Βελόπουλος: Θα συνεχίσω να πουλάω αλοιφές – Αυθεντικά τα χειρόγραφα του Ιησού (vid)". www.reader.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  22. ^ "Βελόπουλος: Θα μας πολεμήσουν με λύσσα". Athens Voice (in Greek). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
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Order of precedence
Preceded byas General Secretary of the Communist Party Order of precedence of Greece
President of the Greek Solution 		Succeeded byas President of New Left
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