Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a “direct dialogue” with Greece on Thursday as a fresh row sparked between the two neighboring countries over the Pontus Greeks Genocide following statements by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
During a meeting with EU ambassadors in Ankara Erdogan and referring to tensions between Greece and Turkey, Erdogan said that he believes differences between the two countries can be solved through “direct and constructive dialogue.”
“I honestly believe that,” he said, reports kathimerini.
While Erdogan was saying this, the Turkish and the Greek foreign ministries were exchanging sharp statements over the statements by Sakellaropoupou on the genocide of the Pontus Greeks committed by the Ottomans in the early 20th century.
Speaking at an event on Wednesday, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said that the “tragic end” of Pontus Greek presence in Anatolia, “with the methodical and systematic genocide with persecutions, massacres, attempts at violent Islamization and unspeakable barbarism, uprooted them from their ancestral homes and brought them to the path of becoming refugees.”
Saying that it regrets the baseless claims, the Turkish foreign ministry stated “false accusations frequently put forward by Greece overshadow the efforts towards establishing a sincere and honest dialogue for the settlement of the problems between the two countries.”
In its response on Thursday, the Greek Foreign Ministry accused Turkey of “distorting the reality.”
“The Turkish side, unfortunately, once again distorts reality and hides not only what happened in the past but also its ongoing policy, which violates international law on a daily basis, creating tensions and poisoning the climate between the two countries,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said.
“Greece, rejecting Turkish objections in their entirety, points out that the acceptance of historical truth and the reconciliation of nations with their past is a leap of moral overcoming of differences between peoples and a guarantee of their peaceful coexistence for the future,” The ministry in Athens said.
The only thing the “Sultan” wants from EU is money! He thinks he can ease Turkeys monetary problems that way, but he has caused the problems him self! I hope EU”s ministers can see that!
The EU should leave Greece and Turkey all alone …. They should solve their problems on their own…if its war its war then…not my problem anymore…enough is enough
lol
If criminals invade you, then the EU should ignore that too. Then it will become your problem
It seems that you want to be the exception to mass cooperation.
Turkey also wants to be an exception to NATO, dictating whether they would protect Poland for not recognizing Kurds as enemies or or buying arms from Russia, etc. We can just imagine how they would behave as an EU member, not that you’d care of course outside of expressing your disconcern.
I would like to believe that Erdogan is still heeding the call of common sense. However, it’s a pity that we don’t observe any prerequisites for this at the moment. He secures the status of a dishonorable and inconsistent politician more and more with his foreign policy. He constantly needs to threaten someone, cause tension around his country and himself in the international arena.
He is speaking to the whole of Europe about the need to reach an agreement with Greece Now, but against this background, he continues his provocative policy towards us. Shameful provocations in the maritime space is continuing and our country is getting humiliating statements and even threats from Turkey at the diplomatic level. Is this appropriate behavior? I personally think that this behavior is completely inadequate.
Erdogan needs to understand one very important thing. Negotiating anything with Greece doesn’t mean making us afraid of Turkey. That means their taking into account our interests and looking for a compromise. He won’t succeed in anything, until he understands that!
I wonder what kind of childhood this bully has experienced, it must have been horrible.
To longer he stays in power the uglier it gets. He must know by now that he is a failure so he will grasp anything to regain some sort of respect. I truly hope for the turks and everyone who has to deal with Turkey that the next leader wont be a problem child. I must say that I find it so strange people adore him, they are either very dumb or really scared.
When he speeches the resemblance with adolf is spot on and the turks eat it with a spoon, they love it.
We used to love to travel to Turkey. I would often point out that this largely Muslim country allowed several Christian churches to operate without restriction. Now, everything is different and we won’t go back until Erdogan is gone.
The EU is against autocracy, jailing journalists and judges, violating international law, attempting to pirate in member states’ waters, aggressive saber rattling, aligning themselves with Russia, etc… it is laughable to remotely contemplate this Muslim nation as part of Europe closing churches and aligning them selves with hamas or the Muslim brotherhood, etc., it is so endless.
This uneducated autocrat is shameless.