Dora Bakoyannis to Thodoris Dritsas: Enough is enough! You have insulted the dead.

«He described his recent statements as »fascist." SYRIZA MP Theodoros Dritsas, «that no one has been terrorized by November 17,» the Dora Bakoyannis. «What kind of democracy do we ultimately want?» asked Ms. Bakoyannis in an article published in «Ta Nea.».

Mr. Dritsas's remarks caused a storm of reactions in the government camp, and were also criticized within SYRIZA, with Mr. Dritsas subsequently attempting to backtrack, arguing, among other things, that his words were incomplete and left room for misinterpretation.

At the same time, SYRIZA distanced itself from the incident in a statement, saying that «the Left is ideologically and morally worlds apart from terrorism.».

The article in detail Dora Bakoyannis:

«I had said that it is now difficult to surprise me with anything in politics. I was proven wrong when I heard the shocking statements made yesterday by SYRIZA MP Thodoris Dritsas. His statements, and others, have prompted the time has come for this country to finally talk about what kind of democracy we want, what its principles and values are, and to tell some hard truths.

Mr. Dritsas unabashedly repeated the rhetoric of terrorists, following their approach to the letter.. He politicized the victims, adopting the fascist notion that the value of human life is measured by their political beliefs.. And he insulted the dead, following the usual tactics of terrorists, who slandered their victims in order to justify their actions. Killing them twice in this way.

He did, of course, separate Pavlos Bakoyannis from all the others because, he says, he was not right-wing. So what?; Was Bakoyannis a mistake and the others were right?; And Axarlian? Do you know the political beliefs of this 20-year-old kid to classify him? Horrible.

As for whether or not terrorists terrorized a country, I would like to remind young and old alike «Mr. Dritsas» of SYRIZA that in 1989, after the assassination of Pavlos Bakoyannis, an entire society was terrorized, seeing once again at its doorstep the specter of a new civil war. And then democracy was kept alive by the leaders of ALL the political parties of the time., Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou, Charilaos Florakis, and Leonidas Kyrkos, with their joint condemnation of violence without footnotes or asterisks. I don't know where Mr. Dritsas was at the time. I don't even know where he was during the junta. I know about Pavlos.

Behind all this, however, lies a bitter truth. The responsibility of a small section of the Left in perpetuating the phenomenon of terrorism in Greece. The Red Brigades threatened and terrorized Italy for about a decade. The culmination of their actions was the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the country's former prime minister, Aldo Moro.

The leader of the Italian Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer, had told his relatives, and others, that if anything like this happened to him, they should not enter into any negotiations with the terrorists. His message was clear: Democracy does not negotiate with its enemies.. That's the theory. In practice, the historic party he led took part in all the demonstrations against terrorism, with thousands of its members waving both the Italian flag and the party flag. The entire state and political leadership of Italy was always present at the funeral of every carabiniere who fell victim to terrorism. The responsible stance taken by the KKE played a catalytic role in Italy's decision to sever all ties with terrorism. I am recording all this to demonstrate how much a section of the domestic Left is moving and operating in the opposite direction.

So why is there still terrorism in Greece when it has ended throughout the rest of Europe? Because In Greece, terrorism has ideological and political backing. And now it's time to tell some truths.

Opposite to his fascist logic, anyone who is not with us is against us. For thirty years, I have stood against this logic. For thirty years, I have been guided by Paul's words, «just because we disagree does not mean we cannot coexist.» For thirty years, I have not made sweeping generalizations, I have not targeted political forces, I have not allowed my emotions to override my responsibility as a citizen and as a politician.

When I saw the child of a SYRIZA executive applauding Pavlos' murderer, I did not speak because I believed, and still believe, that there is no family responsibility.When I heard colleagues from SYRIZA passionately defending the murderer of 11 people, again I did not allow myself to slip into easy aphorisms and generalized comparisons.

When I saw them testifying at the trial, I repeated to my children that their father had told them that, apart from family responsibility, there is no such thing as collective responsibility. For thirty years I have been fighting against political division, fighting so that Paul's beliefs are not lost. and I try to apply them every day. Me and my children too.

But that's enough. Mr. Dritsas' statements were the last straw. I accuse you, Mr. Dritsas, and anyone who shares your reasoning, of being responsible for the continued tolerance of terrorism in Greece!

I accuse you, because With your fascist statements, you have insulted the dead! I accuse you, ladies and gentlemen of SYRIZA, because you allowed your youth to line up behind the banner «I was born on November 17», thus feeding the monster of division for political gain.

I blame you, because some people, few I hope, you are giving political cover to terrorism or, at best, tolerating it.

Mr. Tsipras, I urge you to distance your party from these ideas by removing and cutting it off from them. Your silence today does injustice to the vast majority of your supporters. Above all, however, I urge you to decide what kind of democracy you want to pass on to your children. The civil war in Greece is over. In our modern Greek and European democracy, there is no place for those who are nostalgic for the past, whether on the left or the right. Let's at least agree on that.».