Tzanakopoulos: Turkey wants to exploit two Greek soldiers for political reasons
Greece's government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Monday hit out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the latter's comments about two Greek soldiers who had been in a Turkish prison for a month.
The fact that the two soldiers, who accidentally crossed the border in early March, are being detained without any charges being "is beginning to go beyond the limits," Tzanakopoulos told Real FM, noting that Ankara appears to be set on exploiting the two Turkish soldiers for political reasons.
Turkey's attempt to escalate tensions across a range of fronts is "not an effective course," Tzanakopoulos.
"Erdogan did not dare to relate the two issues directly, he attempted to indirectly counterbalance the case of the eight Turkish soldiers with that of the two Greek soldiers," he said, referring to the eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece in 2016 after Turkey's thwarted coup.
"I don't think that kind of comment makes any sense as the two cases are entirely different," he said.
The Greek spokesman also accused the main conservative opposition New Democracy of refusing to engage in dialogue on issues of foreign policy.
At a time of rising tensions, Athens should seek to resolve isues, he said, claiming that ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis's refusal to meet with Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias "creates even greater problems and tensions."
