In the wake of a violent feud that left two people dead in the Cretan village of Vorizia, local resident Giannis Fragkiadakis has urged a traditional, family-based solution: marriage. Fragkiadakis — who is himself married into the rival Kargakides family, which lives on the other side of the village road — told reporters he fears further bloodshed and believes a wedding is the only sure way to end the vendetta.
“I hope this incident is the last,” Fragkiadakis said. “The vendetta will only end with marriage. They have had weddings and baptisms before, and yet things ended up this way again. Only a wedding — there is no other way for reconciliation (sasmós).”
Call for Police Presence and Allegations About Weapons
Fragkiadakis also called for a permanent police presence in the village, saying residents live in fear and that local authorities appear to be indifferent. He suggested that the problem goes beyond local disputes, alleging that firearms are entering Crete from elsewhere.
“Do you think the authorities do not know that weapons are brought in from outside?” he asked, pointing to a wider concern over the sources of the arms used in such clashes. Fragkiadakis claimed that these weapons are brought onto the island and profited from by others.
Tradition, Trauma and Tensions
Fragkiadakis referenced sasmós, a Cretan social custom of settling family feuds through marriage or other forms of reconciliation, as the only cultural mechanism he trusts to end the cycle of retaliation. His remarks underline how longstanding traditions and contemporary violence collide in small communities struggling to break the pattern of revenge.
