By Penelope Galliou

The conditions that have developed in Thrace and especially in Rhodope on the occasion of the political choices of SYRIZA and its candidates, pushes Piraeus to give even more weight to the contested sensitive area where subtle but clear manipulations are required, as blue executives say.

In this context, the visits and tours of ND officials in the region are intensifying, enlisting important names of the party and well-versed in foreign policy and Greek-Turkish relations in order to properly communicate the messages of the faction and the country itself, and in view of the June 25 ballot.

They already toured the area Dora Bakoyannis and Nikos Hardaliaswhile at the end of this week, on Friday June 16, the former Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis and the international expert and excellent expert on Greek-Turkish relations, candidate for Member of Parliament of Serres Tasos Hatzivasiliou, will visit Rodopi.

The goal of the ND, as a member of the party commented, is not to turn the prefecture of Rodopi blue, as the SYRIZAbut must “politically prevent any attempt by the Turkish sub-state to intervene in the internal affairs of the country, in order to close any “window” that could influence or shape conditions and “strange” relationships in the nationally sensitive region of Thrace”.

After all, he himself Kyriakos Mitsotakis during their interview on SKAI TV and Giorgos Autias underlined the dangers that loom in the region stressing that “the minority can well be used as a tool by Turkey and by the Turkish Consulate and in these elections there were intense interventions by the Turkish Consulate in favor of specific candidates in Rodopi and Xanthi, with messages that say “The Turk votes for a Turk, so vote for these two specific candidates”, who belonged and still belong to the SYRIZA ballots,” he stressed. A situation that, as Mr. Mitsotakis described, could have national consequences for our country, noting at the same time how it “goes against a policy of decades of integration of the minority into the fabric, the social and the economic fabric of the country”.

According to information, it is not excluded that one of the last stops of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ tours around Greece, until the ballot box is set up on Sunday, June 25, will be the prefecture of Rodopi, sending these messages and highlighting even more the effort of the ND for stability in the region by inviting the citizens of the region to compare the policy pursued by SYRIZA for 4 years there and the policy pursued by the ND during its governing period, supporting in practice basic and important sectors of the local society, such as the education sector, economics and culture with specific policies and actions. “We want to be absolutely sure that our Muslim Greek fellow citizens feel that they have the same opportunities to stand out and make a difference in our country as their Christian fellow citizens. This was, is and will be our policy,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed to SKAI, referring to the Muslim minority of Thrace.

The visits of top-ranked blue-collar executives to Rhodope are expected to be closed, in the last week before the elections, by the former ministers Christos Staikouras and Dimitris Avramopoulos.