The controversy surrounding Domestic Property takes on new intensity, as surveyor-engineer George Syrmalis responds with a lengthy and pointed letter following the lawsuits and legal actions announced by the EEPKA Board of Directors against him, and by extension against the leader of the minority opposition and municipal councilor Anargyros Sofios. The surveyor-engineer, who is said to have filed a criminal complaint with the Piraeus Public Prosecutor's Office on November 6. on issues of expenditure, legality, and licensing on the Myrtidia estates and other actions by the EEPKA, harshly reiterates the questions he raises about the functioning of the Commission.
In his letter, Mr. Syrmalis makes extensive references in expenses it considers unjustified, in «contract fragmentation,» in «alleged deficiencies in technical files and permits», He also returns to the issue that he characterizes as a possible encroachment on the EEPKA's territory by the president's relatives. At the same time, he accuses the members of the Commission of eight-month delays in checking titles and of failing to respond to his requests.
The new public intervention, however, is not limited to the domestic market. Mr. Syrmalis turns his attention to barbs and towards the Municipality of Kythira, arguing that there are unpaid studies of his own which, according to him, exceed one million euros. Furthermore, it announces the filing new lawsuits and complaints, insisting that he will pursue acceleration of the judicial process.
Syrmali's response follows a already polarized institutional confrontation, which has taken on public and legal dimensions. With the allegations under investigation and both sides pursuing legal action, attention is now turning to to the competent authorities that will be called upon to assess the facts and the validity of the allegations.
Kythera.News publishes the following letter, sent by Mr. George Syrmalis to local media outlets. The opinions and claims contained in the text are solely those of the author and are not endorsed by Kythera.News. The case is before the courts, which are the only authority competent to judge the facts and the validity of the allegations.
Below is the letter from Mr. George Syrmalis:
Warning! Never call a person in authority stupid or incompetent. You risk being prosecuted for defamation or contempt of authority or for revealing state secrets.
+ F. Mitterrand, former President of France
The OPEC scandal was yet another blow to Greek society. Millions of euros in European subsidies, intended for farmers, ended up in the wrong pockets, with accusations of fraud, forged documents, and “rigged” control systems. It is not just the money that has been lost. It is the trust that has been destroyed, the feeling that the state, instead of protecting, is becoming an accomplice to theft.
The OPEC scandal is not an isolated incident. It is a reflection of a disease that has been eating away at Greece for decades: kleptocracy, which has become a way of life. Kleptocracy is not just a word that describes the squandering of public money. It is a disease that eats away at the heart of the state at the expense of society, leaving behind ruins of trust and dignity. In Greece, this phenomenon is deeply rooted, from the major scandals that fill the news to the small, everyday acts that we have learned to call “favors.”.
The worst thing, however, is not theft. It is “immunity to shame,” the moment when injustice ceases to shock us and becomes the norm. Shame was once the guardian of our conscience. It was what kept society standing, even in the darkest moments of our history. Today, that voice has fallen silent. When a politician gets rich illegally and continues to walk around unmolested, when a civil servant demands a bribe without blushing, when citizens see injustice and say “that's just the way things are,” then kleptocracy has won.
This immunity is not limited to Greece. But here, in our country, it has taken on a particular form. It has become a mindset. “Everyone steals,” we say, and with this phrase we justify everything, from major scandals to minor “bribes.” Kleptocracy does not only steal money. It steals trust, cohesion, and hope. When you no longer believe in the state, in institutions, or even in your neighbor, how can you build a better tomorrow? In Greece, the crisis of the last decade has made things worse. Poverty and unemployment have pushed many to accept corruption as a necessary evil. «If you don't steal, you won't survive,» some say. And this excuse is kleptocracy's greatest victory: convincing us that there is no other way.
But it does exist! Shame can be reawakened. Not as guilt, but as strength. Each of us can say “no,” refuse to be complicit. Change will not come from laws or punishments alone. It will come when we remember that Dignity is not a luxury, but a necessity.. When we stop saying “that's how it is” and start saying “as far as here”!
As personal interest has become a global phenomenon, that vulgar phrase «for our own sake» has become a supreme value, with Greece scoring FIRST and Humanity being threatened not only by those involved in corruption but also by us who, while recognizing it, passively accept it!.
Let us recall his historic phrase Albert Einstein who said: «The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.»
Otherwise
First comes luxury in cities, then pride, then arrogance, and after that, destruction.
Pythagoras
1: Addressing now the members of the Legal Entity of Public Law «Committee for the Domestic Property of Kythira and Antikythira,» you have a president whose family has encroached on land belonging to the EEPKA with only contracts (...the information available to the media... has been submitted to the EEPKA and other competent authorities). You decided to assign a lawyer to examine the validity of my complaint, eight months have already passed and you are still navel-gazing?;
- in the document dated 20/04/2025 to the Decentralized Administration of Attica, Administration Department, Local Government Supervision Division
- Your brilliant president writes about the case concerning the encroachment on his family's property—which was not morally right—and judges and acquits relatives and neighbors, concealing the fact that the first title deed with the name Pathoulias dates back to 1972 for his family and that the 62 acres appeared in 2008.
- And concludes: 4. Consequently, it is clear from the It is noted that no infringement has been committed by none
- Come on, we were worried.
- You deserve your salary, my lad.
Because I know better than anyone else the validity of my study and the complaints, I will now proceed with lawsuits and legal action against you because now in violation of any law, you offer tolerance to trespassers, the family of your president as well as his neighbors, whom you have probably not checked Not even a title, and you settle for the excuses and babbling of your president.
2: Eight months ago, I had requested E.E.P.K.A., please inform me of any approvals or licenses you may have had for the environmental crimes that you had made in the Natura area in the northern part of the island, and I received no response—in violation of every law and every concept of democratic accountability—perhaps because the president and you consider the E.E.P.K.A. your property. In the end, the road to Karpathos was a dead end. I know that most of you are also involved in agriculture, so I would like you to tell me if any of you have paid €24,800 for a 330-meter stretch of poor access road (Simatoreio) _ that is, four hours of work. And I ask you, is this a transaction above or below the table? You are very generous with the money of the E.E.P.K.A., my friends. Who were the supervisors of the work and who accepted it?;
3: You've spent a ton of money since 2022. (€76,484.00), with 2 and 3 assignments each year for the same subject Plowing – crops properties of the Holy Shrine of Myrtidia which is illegal as a division of contract, and 2025 From your receipts, it appears that you spent money on three assignments. 39,468.00 euros.
Who received these assignments and who supervised them?;
Do you have topographical diagrams and permits for the clearings? I will insist through my legal advisors that you document where each clearing and each crop is located, because I fear that you have wasted a lot of money on hot air, as in Simatoreio, since your cunning president is asking for help from the public to plant trees in the same areas. help from the people for tree planting in the same areas. so simply cultivation never existed.
With these amounts, the minimum area I expect you to deliver is 750 acres.
Finally, I will use all legal means to prevent you from hiding behind the delays of justice, as you did with the roads, but to speed up the process and finally bring the truth to light.
4: Is there anything left of the €34,687.02 in incense, or will the Second Coming finally arrive and find us sans–culottes ;
5: Now, regarding our president, who has seen it, Louis, and sues anyone who does not share his opinion (L’ State, c’est moi) I warned you in my open letter dated March 11, 2025.
1on: An unbelievable, brazen attempt at blackmail, manipulation, and defamation of my personality and professional competence with mud in the fan in every direction, publicizing sensitive information personal data from the deposits made to his service and concealing the purchase of the property with no. Contract 1092 /3-12-1914 (Notary Public Potamion Charilaou S. Didaskalopoulou) with a full description: uncultivated land, location, neighbors, and area, however large it may be, and marked out with dry stone walls. I am registering the title to prevent further illegal occupation and to Did the president finally learn what the old contracts were like?
2on: in the document dated 20/04/2025 to the Decentralized Administration of Attica Administration Department, Local Government Supervision Division writes our brilliant president:
In other words, Mr. Venarde, it is not enough for you to develop your arguments, which your replacement should normally respond to, because in this case you should not express an opinion—for reasons of propriety—but it is also clear that your lack of knowledge has led you to E.E.P.K.A., , but we must also put others down to make them measure up to you.
No Mr. Venarde, my ethics and my history on the island do not allow me to leave your attempt to tarnish my character, my dignity, my character, my professional competence. You will therefore face a lawsuit for defamation with monetary damages equal to the total amount of my unpaid studies by the Municipality. exceeds one million euros, and even though you knew, you concealed it...
Words of great arrogance, with great misfortunes paid for
Sophocles (Antigone)
George Syrmalis
