In these days the headlines of international mass media deal mainly with the Olympic games in Beijing and the war between Russia and Georgia. In the ancient Greece, when the Olympic games took place, conflicts between cities were interrupted, in order to allow the young population to take part into the sport competitions. This was called ‘ekecheiria’ (olympic truce), and was established for the first time in 776 bC.
Even in modern times, before each edition of Olympic games, authorities call for the Olympic truce. “In October 2007, the 62nd Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, chaired by Srgjan Kerim, adopted the Olympic Truce Resolution for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Through this resolution, the UN invites its member States to observe and promote peace during Games-times in order to protect the interests of athletes and sport in general, and to contribute, through sport, to the search for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to the world’s conflicts.” (source: olympictruce.org)
In spite of this call, while in ancient times the olympic truce was respected, in our modern ‘civilized’ times – when Olympic games have become a global event ruled by business and politics – truce has been rarely respected, as the facts of these days in the Caucasus are showing.
Maybe we should all think a bit about this…
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