Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias« response from New York to the provocative allegations made by the President of Turkey against Greece from the floor of the UN General Assembly was strict and direct. »Turkey's positions each time widen the framework which human reason has to face. The country which is instrumentalizing the migration issue, putting tens of thousands of human lives at risk, even comes to accuse Greece of crimes against humanity, even using false facts, which have been answered for ten days now. The country that is directly threatening war, the country that has issued a casus belli, the country that is contesting Greek sovereignty over the Aegean islands, comes to talk about good neighbourly relations. The country which occupies the territories of foreign countries, including the Republic of Cyprus, comes to talk about security and understanding in the Eastern Mediterranean," Dendias stressed.
In this context, the Foreign Minister said that «what we have to say is that Turkey would do well to respect international law and to return as soon as possible at least to the realm of reason».
He noted that the specific accusations, the specific allegations of the Turkish side have been heard and answered many times. «First of all, Greece is a European country which absolutely respects human rights and of course the rights of the Muslim minority. Besides, this is proven by the numbers. The Muslim minority in Greece is growing, expanding and prospering. It would be good for Turkey to answer what happened to the Greek minority in Istanbul and how the once thriving minority of over 100,000 has today been reduced to less than 5,000 people, or as it was once called, Turkey has no right to speak», he said.
Dimitris Manolis
