By Antonis Anzoletou

On May 21, all of Greece was painted blue except for the Rhodopes which turned pink. New Democracy complains that the SYRIZA MP, Ozgur Ferhat, won the seat with the intervention of the Turkish consulate. The official opposition accuses New Democracy of choosing a divisive and dangerous policy for the Muslim minority of Thrace. The presence of New Democracy officials in the area led by Dora Bakoyani and the continuous interventions of both Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Alexis Tsipras show that the feud will culminate. This is evidenced by yesterday’s visit of the president of SYRIZA to Maximos in order to meet the interim prime minister, Ioannis Sharma.

In the recent polls, Rodopi passed into the hands of the official opposition with a percentage of 33.18%, leaving six points behind the New Democracy (27.06%). And PASOK scored a large percentage, 22.63%, with the three parties sharing the three seats. The difference between the first two is 3,723 votes and the “bra de fer” for June 25 is expected to be tough. The turnout was not very large. Of the 118,196 registered, only 53.19% went to the polls. The picture four years ago in the wider region was completely different. The blue faction was the first to cut the thread with a percentage of 37.84% and a difference of ten points from SYRIZA (27.17%). In 2019, the party of Alexis Tsipras won Xanthi, showing in combination with this year’s result that it has foundations in the region. The fact that Xanthi was lost to Koumoundourou (with a 13% difference) was one of the unpleasant surprises for the party, as it was considered a “castle” since May 2012.

It is a fact that the minority in the region has problems that need to be solved. The minority vote is a legitimate electoral goal and there is ground for partnerships. Whether they are of a national or party or religious nature. The balances are too delicate for anyone to draw a safe conclusion about what exactly is going on. The “civil war” that has broken out in the SYRIZA with former and current officials trading accusations against each other over the involvement of the Turkish consulate. The official opposition answers that when New Democracy or PASOK won the specific region, no one spoke, publicly at least, about interference by a foreign factor in the elections. Some argue that the pandemic and the way minority villages were treated played a role in the result of May 21. International minority law only refers to an individual minority right, not a collective minority right, clarify experienced internationalists. On the occasion of the pro-government Hurriyet, which hastened to highlight the internal conflict, it is obvious that as long as the term “Turkish” is supported, appropriate responses from the Greek side are necessary. The Turks will not stop talking about a “blue homeland” and they do not limit it only to the Aegean. The minority issue was settled 100 years ago with the Treaty of Lausannewhich defines a Greek ethnic minority in Turkey and a religious – Muslim – minority in Thrace.

In any case, and in these elections, PASOK MP candidate Ilhan Ahmed won the impression, as the minority MP has been elected since 2004 with different parties. As for Thrace, Evros also enters the “equation” for the next elections. New Democracy remained first, but fell in percentages and lost one seat compared to 2019. In the northernmost part of Greece, Hellenic Solution scored its largest percentage (8.72%) and NIKI 2.82%, which signaled “alarm » in New Democracy.