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The new Suez Canal, which was officially opened today, is expected to fundamentally change the navigation in this part of the world and double its commodity transport capacity.

Among the guests at the opening is the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras. Today he had bilateral meetings with Egyptian President Abdel al-Sisi, French President Francois Hollande and the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev.

Greece's relationship with Suez dates dates back to the very start of the grand project in the mid-19th century. Greeks participated in the digging of the canal, which began in 1859 under the project of Ferdinand de Lesseps and finished 10 years later. The Greeks who were involved in the construction of the canal were mostly residents of the Dodecanese Islands: Kastelorizo, Astypalaia, Patmos, Rhodes, and especially Kasos. These islanders worked on the canal and settled there, despite the terrible conditions, e.g. the lack of water, scorching heat, swamps and epidemics of cholera and typhus.

"Ferdinand de Lesseps needed workers and many were attracted by the good wages. Indeed, the conditions were extremely tough, they were digging with …. Their claws, and quite a few people lost their lives", says Christos Kavalis, president of the Greek community in Cairo. "The Greeks also came in handy as good sailors who were capable of navigating the Suez Canal: this is how their community began to thrive along the canal. Today, a large part of our diaspora comes from the small communities having formed at that time in Port Said and Ismailia. Originally, at least 4,000 Greeks came in, with many of them hailing from the island of Kasos."

The exodus has been described in the history of the island. It took place at the opening of the Suez Canal works in 1859 and later in 1866. After the facility was completed, thousands of Greeks came to work for the Suez company.

A vivid account of the events of that time is presented by Michalis Skoullos in the electronic newspaper "Voice of Kasos" and in his book entitled The First Kasos Residents In Egypt. In it, Skoullos describes the whole history of the Greeks associated with the Suez Canal.