Greek FM Dendias – Erdogan govt should abandon its ‘neo-Ottoman policy’

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Wednesday sharply responded to the latest provocations and bellicose language emanating from official Turkey, including its top leadership, saying Athens expects Ankara to abandon what he called its “neo-Ottoman policy”.

Dendias spoke in the Greek capital during the inauguration of an exhibition at the Byzantine & Christian Museum, using the venue and event, in fact, to point to the Erdogan government’s shocking decision to reconvert the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Hagia Sophia and Chora Cathedral back into mosques last year.

The two Istanbul monuments are considered as among the finest examples of Byzantine civilization and foremost Christian Orthodox basilicas before the Ottomans sacked then Constantinople in the 15th century.

“These monuments are now being used for other reasons, in violation of relevant international commitments,” Dendias stressed.

The head of Greek diplomacy referred to an “incomprehensible” decision by the Erdogan government, one that he said was intertwined, up until recently, with Turkey’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and North Africa, a development he charged aimed to destabilize various countries in the wider region, “and friends of Greece,” he added.

Dendias called on Turkish leadership to return to the tradition of a secular state and to respect the monuments of past civilizations that thrived on the territory of modern-day Turkey.

He concluded that he believes this best serves the interests of Turkish society and expresses the will of a significant part that society.