FM responds to inflammatory statements made by Erdogan at the UN

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias responded to comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

“The country that is instrumentalizing the issue of migration, endangering tens of thousands of lives, comes here to accuse Greece of crimes against humanity, when in fact it is using false data that has been discredited for over ten days,” said Dendias from New York. “The country that directly threatens with war, the country that has a standing casus belli, the country that questions Greek sovereignty over the islands of the Aegean comes here to talk about good neighborly relations.”

“The country that occupies foreign territory, including that of the Republic of Cyprus, comes here to talk about conditions of security and co-operation in the Eastern Mediterranean,” added Dendias.

“What we have to reply is that Turkey would be best served to respect international law and to return as quickly as possible to the realm of the rational,” he said.

“Certain claims by the Turkish side have been heard and answered many times. Firstly, Greece is a European country that absolutely respects human rights and, of course, the rights of its Muslim community. Afterall, this is proven by the raw numbers. The Muslim community in Greece is growing, expanding, and prospering,” said Dendias in response to claims that Greece is discriminating against its Muslim community.

“We call on Turkey to answer on what happened to the Greek community of Istanbul and how the thriving – with more than 100,000 members once, community, today numbers less than 5,000 people.”