“We are going through a difficult and dangerous period. The Turkish leadership is intensifying the pressure on our country, proceeding to aggressive statements,” President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Sunday during the celebration of the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the island of Kastellorizo.
“It undermines the relations of good neighbourliness and peaceful coexistence that Greeks and Turks have built for so many decades, considering the sea that separates them not as an impenetrable border but a means of communication,” she added.
Sakellaropoulou added in her speech: “The escalation of the aggressive rhetoric by the Turkish leadership is raising barriers between the peoples, creating suspicion and hostility, threatening the ties between them. And I know that your patriotism is not based on rivalry with your neighbour. It is based on the national self-confidence, on the pride for the long history of the island, on the memory of long-term struggles and sacrifices.”
“Kastellorizo is a valuable part of our country. It is not just strategic for shaping and claiming the rights of Greece. It has even greater moral significance. It is the place that condenses the concept of patriotism, in its highest expression. The place that remained Greek, in defiance of any threat,” she underlined.
Source: ANA-MPA