«I appeal to Mitsotakis—now as a citizen of Thessaloniki—to have the courage to say, ‘I was wrong’; there’s no shame in saying, ‘I was wrong.’ If anything, it’s very human.»he pointed out while speaking" In the Red The former mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, commenting on the decision to remove the antiquities from the Byzantine road of Mesi Odos, which were uncovered during the excavation of the Metro tunnels near the «Venizelos.».
Mr. Boutaris at the Niko Xydakis He referred to the prime minister’s responsibilities, and the mistake in the decision to relocate the antiquities is something that even international organizations have pointed out, such as UNESCO, which maintains that if the antiquities are moved, they will lose their authenticity and be removed from the UNESCO list.
The former mayor pointed out that the ancient ruins were preserved, for example, in Monastiraki in central Athens—and in fact, it took four years to complete the station—and that similar antiquities were preserved in Milan and Rome, Italy, and in Sofia, Bulgaria, and she wondered why this could not be done in Thessaloniki as well.
He noted that it is possible to preserve the antiquities there and keep the Metro running, whereas moving them would damage the authenticity their.
He recalled that when he insisted on preserving the antiquities there, many people criticized him, even though all he was doing was defending the city’s cultural heritage. In fact, he emphasized that representatives of the Central Archaeological Council never went down to the excavation site to see the antiquities up close, using the discovery of mercury there as an excuse.
Regarding the Metro construction projects at Venizelos Station, he emphasized that «»Things moved forward under Tsipras; I'm not a SYRIZA supporter, and I say so—and I've told Tsipras that too." and «Tsipras backed this story about Venizelos"».
Regarding the prime minister and his responsibilities, he said the following: «I appealed to Mitsotakis, ‘to have the courage to admit that the announcement regarding when the project would be ready was a mistake, and to have the courage to say, ‘Yes, my friend, I was wrong’—I received incorrect recommendations. If the ancient remains are uncovered, the section remaining up to the station’s ceiling—which is 3–4 meters—will have to be excavated; they can’t just leave it unexcavated. At the very least, excavating that will take a year—which is a long time—and that’s yet another delay. Delays for reasons not covered by the contract will lead the contractor to say, »Guys, I want compensation for this.’ There are already reports that the compensation they’re demanding is 150,000,000 euros.”.
He noted that «»If they had picked up in 2019 from where the story abruptly ended, and if everything had been approved, they would have finished by now.". Mr. Boutaris also referred to the responsibilities of the Karamanlis family—that of the current Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and the former prime minister—and emphasized: «’We have a member of parliament from Thessaloniki, the former prime minister Kostas Karamanlis; he hasn't said a word about this issue, and that really bothers me.».
The Council of State’s decision regarding the transfer of antiquities was 12 (against) and 13 (in favor)—that’s almost a tie, he said, «That alone means nothing to those who make the decisions—Mendoni, Mitsotakis,» Mr. Boutaris wondered.
Finally, he explained that, according to what architect Dimitris Korres had pointed out to them —who prepared the study for their removal and relocation—the antiquities will be dismantled and cut into seven-meter-long sections. To remove them, they will have to break through the slab—which has already collapsed—and this slab is one meter thick and reinforced with rebar, which requires a great deal of work, as it is not like the slabs found in apartment buildings, he noted.
Mr. Boutaris concluded by emphasizing that he is addressing «An appeal to Mitsotakis—now as a citizen of Thessaloniki—to have the courage to say, “I was wrong.” There’s no shame in saying, “I was wrong.” On the contrary, it’s very human.».
