In a letter, hundreds of authors—including scholars, educators, researchers, publishers, and members of the international intellectual community—expressed deep concern over the exclusion of the Greek language from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). They call on the company “to reconsider its current policy and demonstrate leadership in protecting linguistic and cultural diversity in the digital age.”

The signatories also note that Amazon derives its name from Greek mythology and language, emphasizing that “the exclusion of the Greek language—one of the foundational languages of world intellectual history—would constitute not merely a technical omission, but a cultural loss, the consequences of which extend far beyond the Greek-speaking community itself.”

The letter, signed primarily by academics from the Greek diaspora and initiated by the International Hellenic Association (IHA), refers to Amazon’s KDP platform—a self-publishing service that allows authors to publish and distribute books digitally and in print to a global audience—as reported, among others, by the Athens News Agency.

It points out that Amazon KDP currently supports publication in numerous regional and minority languages with significantly fewer speakers than Greek, such as Cornish, Manx, North Frisian, Romansh, and Corsican. At the same time, Greek—a language spoken today by approximately 13 to 15 million people worldwide—remains excluded from KDP’s publishing services. The issue, therefore, cannot reasonably be explained solely by commercial or demographic considerations.

The Greek language holds a unique position in the cultural and intellectual history of humanity. With more than 3,400 years of uninterrupted written tradition, it is among the oldest continuously written and spoken languages in the world. It is the language of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Archimedes, and the New Testament, as well as of foundational works that shaped philosophy, democracy, medicine, mathematics, political thought, theology, literature, and science.

Greek is not merely a historical language, but a living one and an ongoing intellectual tradition. For millennia, it has served as a framework of meanings and values centered on the human being.

Words such as democracy, philanthropy, politics, ethics, dialogue, philosophy, history, and theory are not only linguistic inheritances but expressions of major achievements in human civilization. The Greek language gave form to one of the earliest human-centered cultures of freedom, where the citizen and the community became central subjects of reflection and creation.

It also articulates with exceptional precision the foundations of democratic life. Terms such as democracy, isegoria, isonomia, and isopoliteia express principles of participation, equality, and political inclusion. These concepts are difficult to fully translate without loss of meaning and remain fundamental to modern political thought.

Greek literature and philosophy have also offered humanity a language of moral resistance against arbitrary power. In Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, the “philanthropic way” is contrasted with tyranny, presenting love for humanity as both a moral and political choice. This legacy remains highly relevant in the digital age, where access to language is closely tied to memory, education, participation, and cultural dignity.

The Greek language, therefore, is not merely a means of communication or a commercial tool, but a repository of wisdom, virtue, and beauty—a language that has shaped humanity’s moral, political, scientific, and creative vocabulary.

Its importance has also been recognized internationally by UNESCO, which designated February 9 as World Greek Language Day, acknowledging Greek’s enduring contribution to global culture and human heritage.

The exclusion of Greek-language books from one of the world’s most influential digital publishing platforms creates obstacles for Greek and Greek-speaking authors, educators, students, researchers, publishers, and readers worldwide. It also undermines the broader principle of linguistic and cultural diversity in the global digital environment.

For many years, Greek authors and publishers have relied on Amazon for the international distribution of literary works, academic studies, educational materials, and historical content, while Greek consumers have also supported Amazon’s products and services across successive stages of technological development.

For these reasons, the signatories call on Amazon to:

• Restore and maintain the ability to publish works in the Greek language through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
• Ensure reliable support for Greek-language publications.
• Publicly reaffirm its commitment to multilingualism and cultural diversity in digital publishing.
• Engage constructively with Greek and academic institutions regarding the future of Greek-language publishing.
• Recognize that languages of major historical, educational, and cultural significance should not be excluded from global digital infrastructures for publishing and knowledge dissemination.