ABTTF President: “The ruling New Democracy nominates a member of the Greek minority in Albania, who is both an Albanian and a Greek citizen, as a candidate in the elections to the European Parliament from its own list, and this person is eventually elected, but for some reason, our motherland’s support for us is always met with a negative reaction in our country. What our country is doing is clearly a double standard and is absolutely contrary to the spirit of good neighbourly relations between the two countries’’.
Greek Government Spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis responded to the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye Hakan Fidan at a press conference held on 10 January 2025 that the issue of Western Thrace should be included in the disputes between the two countries.
Referring to ‘‘baseless allegations’’, Marinakis noted that the only point of disagreement with Türkiye is the delimitation of the continental shelf and the corresponding exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Responding to a journalist’s question at a press conference in which Fidan met with representatives of national and international media organisations based in Türkiye in Istanbul, Fidan indicated that the positive relationship between Türkiye and Greece, especially at the level of leaders, provides a good environment for the two countries to solve the issues inherited from the recent and distant periods in a better way, and that Türkiye is focusing on the Aegean problem and other relevant issues, as well as the issues in Western Thrace.
“Just as our country takes care of the Greek minority in neighbouring Albania and protects its rights, our motherland also takes care of our community and makes efforts to solve our issues in dialogue with our country. Moreover, the ruling New Democracy nominates a member of the Greek minority in Albania, who is both Albanian and Greek citizen, as a candidate in the European Parliament elections from its own list and this person is eventually elected, but for some reason, our motherland’s support for us is always met with a negative reaction in our country. What our country is doing is clearly a double standard and this is absolutely contrary to the spirit of good neighbourly relations between the two countries. The issues can only be solved by talking and dialogue and there are no issues that cannot be solved as long as there is goodwill. As the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we would like to see this goodwill from our country”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe.
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
