Greek opposition leader makes ‘peace’ call between Athens, Ankara

Yorgo Kırbaki – ATHENS

Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras has made a call against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ provocative statements on Turkey and offered peace between Athens and Ankara while speaking at an event on the Aegean island of Symi.

“Tension is not in favor of anybody,” the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left and Progressive Alliance, best known by its abbreviation SYRIZA, said on June 9.

The economical crisis is hitting both sides of the Aegean, Tsipras said, adding, “Both sides need peace and stability.”

For Mitsotakis’ recent remarks, the SYRIZA leader highlighted, “Not only peace and social unity, but also nationalism endanger democracy.”

In his visit to Washington on May 16, the Greek premier complained about Turkey to U.S. President Joe Biden and asked the U.S. Congress to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Two weeks later, he continued his complaints at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.

Following these statements, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted that Mitsotakis “no longers exists” for him.