Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras stated the following in response to a question regarding an announcement issued yesterday by the Turkish Foreign Ministry:
“A simple comparison suffices for anyone to see the obvious. The numbers alone speak volumes about the circumstances of the Muslim minority in Thrace and the Greek Orthodox minority in Istanbul, Imvros and Tenedos. Anyone can see which minority is flourishing and which has grown smaller.
There is also another simple reality: Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981, while Turkey – with Greece’s support – is pursuing accession to the European family. But EU membership presupposes respect for human rights and the European acquis as a whole, which entails a change in outlooks and practices.”
October 7, 2013