ABTTF President: ‘This visit by Katsaniotis is a very natural act and has been welcomed as it should be. I would like to ask Katsaniotis whom stated that our country Greece supports the Treaty of Lausanne and that they will remind Turkey of its commitments. Just like the visit he realised, when officials from our motherland Turkey visit Western Thrace, our country denies that we are ‘Turkish’ and accuses our motherland with unfounded accusations that it is provoking. In this case, who should be reminded of the commitments arising from the Treaty of Lausanne?’
Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andreas Katsaniotis paid an official visit to Imbros (Gökçeada) in Turkey’s Aegean Sea from 31 January to 2 February. During his visit, Katsaniotis was present at an official opening ceremony of a restored church on the island, which was also attended by Patriarch Bartholomew I, according to a news report from Birlik newspaper. Sharing news about his visit from is social media account, Katsaniotis wrote the following: ‘We are leaving Imbros, but our heart will stay here. The dream remains alive’. Furthermore, in reference to the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, Katsaniotis noted, ‘We support the implementation of the Treaty of Lausanne and will continue to remind Turkey of its official commitments’.
‘This visit by Katsaniotis is a very natural act and has been welcomed as it should be. . I would like to ask Katsaniotis whom stated that our country Greece supports the Treaty of Lausanne and that they will remind Turkey of its commitments. Just like the visit he realised, when officials from our motherland Turkey visit Western Thrace, our country denies that we are ‘Turkish’ and accuses our motherland with unfounded accusations that it is provoking. In this case, who should be reminded of the commitments arising from the Treaty of Lausanne and international agreements? In addition, cultural and religious structures connected to the Greek society are restored in our motherland Turkey, while in our country our mosques are left to their fate and ravaged. I hope that on his return to Greece, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Katsaniotis will pass through Western Thrace, observe the current state of our historical buildings left by the Ottoman Empire in the region and salute the Turkish community in the Western Thrace, which has the same rights as the Greek community in Turkey but shares a different fate’ said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
