The Greek Ambassador sent a letter to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Turkey for denying Apostolos Tsizikostas entry to Smyrna last Saturday.

In particular, Greek Ambassador Christodoulos Lazaris yesterday delivered a letter orally to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on behalf of the Greek Foreign Ministry. There was a verbal protest on the day of the incident.

Recall that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendiasannounced on Monday when he arrived that our embassy in Ankara would verbally demand an explanation from Turkey about preventing the entry of the regional governor of Macedonia.

Chronicle of the Turkish provocation in Smyrna

“A month ago we opened a new ferry service between Thessaloniki and Izmir, I decided to go on this ship to Izmir for this meeting that was to be held, a Euro-Mediterranean, very important meeting of a European official institution, which I would like to chair. As soon as the ship arrived in Smyrna and after receiving the local authorities, where I was also invited, this problem arose when passing through passport control,” Governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tsitsikostas explained to SKAI.

When asked if the Turkish authorities knew about him, he replied: “The assembly has been known for a year. We were invited by the municipality of Smyrna, which is responsible for this year’s event. In my European capacity, I would preside. I have been to Turkey in the past and the name was announced in the flyers for this event. It is not a municipal organization, but an official European institution, that’s the difference.”

“When the Turkish police entered my name into the computers, there was a stir. They started talking to each other in Turkish, making phone calls, you understand that after three minutes I asked the officials of the municipality who came to greet me, and they told me: “Don’t worry, Mr. President, it was obviously a mistake.”

The governor said he waited seven hours between the office and the ship before being told the ban would be lifted. But at that moment he made his own decision, and there was no way he could stay in Turkey.

Bilingualism of Tsavusoglu about the episode with Tsizikosta

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attributed the ban on the entry of Central Macedonian Governor Apostolos Dzidzikosta to a technical problem, arguing however that “there are certain bans that Greece has deliberately introduced” and threatening that “if the ban on entering Greece continues against some of our officials we will answer.”

Speaking before the Parliamentary Budget Committee and referring to the ban on Mr. Tsitsikosta from entering the port of Smyrna, Mr. Cavusoglu said that “obviously there is no intention here. Due to a technical problem, the entry of a Greek citizen into our country was delayed. After solving this technical problem, the Greek citizen was allowed to enter our country.”

Subsequently, Mr. Cavusoglu emphasized: “This has nothing to do with the incident in Smyrna. However, there are certain prohibitions that Greece introduced deliberately. We have warned the Greek authorities about this. If the ban on entering Greece for some of our officials continues, we will respond.”