2006

Events

January 29: Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis plays against Roger Federer in the mens' final of the Australian Open. Baghdatis takes the first set but eventually loses 3-1 sets.

February 2: The Greek government confirms that Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and several ministers had their mobile phones tapped for more than a year - begining before the Athens Olympics in 2004 and lasting until March 2005.
February 14: Dora Bakoyianni is appointed Foreign Minister by PM Costas Karamanlis.
February 23: Theodoros Bechrakis is elected interim Mayor of Athens by the city council, following Dora Bakoyianni's resignation due to being appointed as Foreign Minister. Bechrakis receives 14 of the 25 votes while his opponent, Angelos Moschonas, receives 10. There was one blank ballot.

April 16: A passenger train crashes into a truck, at a crossing near Drama, killing four people and injuring 40.
April 18: Vassilis Kontovazenitis becomes the 15th President of EPAE, taking over leadership from Alexandros Lykourezos

May 6: Periklis Iakovakis breaks the Greek record for 400m hurdles with 47.82.
May 6: Apollon Limassol defeat Anorthosis 3-1 and win the Cypriot football title for only the third time in their history. The Lemesos club went through the entire season without a single defeat.
May 10: In the first Greek Football Cup final played in Crete, Olympiakos defeat AEK 3-0.
May 20: Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos host the only Eurovision contest to be held in Athens which Finnish group "Lordi" win.
May 22: The 19th century painting The Naughty Grandchild by Nikiforos Lytras became the most expensively sold piece of artwork by a Greek painter, going for 1.08 million euros at an auction at Sotheby's in London.

Jet Fighter Pilot Costas Eliakis was never recovered after the two F-16 collision

May 23: Two F-16 fighter jets, one Greek and the other Turkish, collide in mid-air over international waters in the southern Aegean Sea. The Greek F-16 had been dispatched to intercept the Turkish jet because it had violated Greek airspace, according to the Greek Defense Ministry. The Turkish pilot ejected safely and was picked up by a merchant ship, while the Greek airman (Costas Eliakis) went missing despite a major rescue effort.
May 25: Australia got the better of reigning European champions Greece (1-0) in a friendly game before a record breaking crowd of 96,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - around 60,000 of whom were members of the city's large Greek community.