Former Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyanni on Wednesday asked Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu directly over recent high-profile -- and incendiary, as far as Athens is concerned – statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The latter criticized a landmark 1923 treat, which established the modern Turkish state’s boundaries and normalized relations with opposing military powers, before a partisan audience earlier this month in Izmir. Erdogan mostly bemoaned the fact, as he explained, that the new Turkish state’s diplomats at the time essentially "gave away" the eastern Aegean islands – with their predominately ethnic Greek populations – to Greece.
Çavuşoğlu appeared at a parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE), where he decidedly downplayed the quip.
“… all countries must adhere to international treaties and agreements, whether they like it or not. This is a fact, it does not mean that someone cannot express their opinions over how correct these agreements were, or how justified they were. President Erdogan, of course, can express his opinions over agreements, which have advantages and disadvantages for Turkey. This is freedom of expression, it is not a threat against Greece or any other country”.
