On SKAI 100.3 radio and Aris Portosalte, Fthiotida MP candidate with the N.D., Yannis Oikonomou, spoke and said that “SYRIZA remains faithful to its usual tactic of distorting things, trying to falsify the facts. Those of the minority have been clarified by the Treaty of Lausanne. They have been strictly defined and any other approach to the minority, other than those defined by the Treaty of Lausanne, is nationally harmful.”

“Don’t be naive enough to think that all this discussion is being done for a few thousand votes in Rodopi. Honestly, can anyone think that New Democracy is raising an issue because it lacks 10,15,20 thousand votes or why one prefecture, out of all the ones in the country, was not painted blue, but with the colors of SYRIZA? This is not the stake,” emphasized Mr. Economou.

He emphasized that “Due to SYRIZA’s reaction to the information and the information it had about the provocative actions of influence of the Turkish consulate in favor of specific candidates in Thrace, an issue has been created and the danger of the minority being instrumentalized by forces outside the country for their own purposes. With instruments and tools, people who were elected from the SYRIZA ballots, after the unprecedented influence of the Turkish consulate.”

“New Democracy was not the first to say these things, they have long been highlighted by officials, by SYRIZA executives in the region, with statements that speak of provocative propaganda -“SYRIZA didn’t win, the Turkish consulate won”- and a series of from reports – mainly from SYRIZA officials – in the region.” said Mr. Economou verbatim.

Regarding “The questions to Mr. Tsipras and SYRIZA” Mr. Economou added that “they are specific and they could be closed with specific answers: Was there influence? Has this been updated? Why was this update ignored? If they do not understand what is at stake in Thrace and ignore this information that they received officially a long time ago, then they prove once again that critical issues of national importance are not treated with the due importance, institutionality and seriousness required by political actors who serve the government from the position of Opposition Officer. If they understand and react in this way to secure a few tens of thousands more votes, we still come to the same conclusion.”

At the same time, he explained that “What is at stake in Thrace is serious, we must not be led to an extreme internal rivalry, because then we put water in the mill of Turkish propaganda. On the other hand, the questions are specific: both with the sms sent by the false muftis and with the moves that are made outside the country with various Non-Governmental Organizations in order to have privileged treatment for specific candidates, and with the silence of specific candidates, who have not clarified what that they represent the Muslim minority of Thrace and not some Turkish citizens. Very simple things could be said and put things in place. Instead of answers, we are met with awkward silence on the part of the Official Opposition which, I repeat, is nationally damaging based on the facts and not on the basis of conspiracy theories.”

“The members of the Muslim minority in Thrace and every Greek citizen living in our country, as far as the New Republic is concerned, things are very specific and clear. The Prime Minister identified them precisely. Every Greek citizen should have equal opportunities – to claim priority, quality, safety, progress in the Greek territory – with everyone else, regardless of their religion or political views” said the candidate for parliament of Fthiotida with N. D.

Continuing, he emphasized that “However, this does not mean that we should be naive when we face a Turkey with intensifying revisionism, bigotry, neo-Ottomanism and opening the back door for internal interventions, ignoring serious indications of responsible services that have not been established in Thrace yesterday or the day before yesterday. On the contrary, they have been there for years and are carrying out a nationally important work.”

Mr. Economou added that “It is not a matter of electoral associations. It is a matter of naivety, small-party expediency, lightness, opportunism – I am careful in my expressions and I do not want to exclude Greeks as more or less sensitive to patriotic issues – which led SYRIZA to ignore very important warnings for several months. Did they not bother to weigh the complaints of their own people in Thrace? Did they not bother to watch Turkish media statements of their candidates? Didn’t all this give him some thought?’

He also stated that “It does not mean that all representatives of the Muslim minority or citizens who vote in Rodopi and Xanthi behave in this way and are vulnerable to the Turkish consulate. Deputies have been elected, not with the New Democracy and in fact, against the will, tactics and propaganda of the Turkish consulate. Why do we allow people who were elected to be in the Greek Parliament with obvious influence and propaganda of the Turkish consulate, not to clarify their position that they represent the Muslim minority in Thrace.”

In closing, Mr. Economou stated that “In his attempt to institutionally involve the Acting Prime Minister, Mr. Tsipras complicated things even more. The issue is not an election. We appeal to simple logic. We have a party that received 41% and one that received 20% and the question is whether the prefecture of Rodopis will be painted blue or pink? We have an issue that is a national problem. It is the direct involvement of the Turkish consulate in favoring specific people over other candidates – candidates and SYRIZA – who for months seem to be playing games of Turkish propaganda and side in Thrace with the false muftis, with strange organizations. This information had reached SYRIZA and Mr. Tsipras in time for months. He chose to ignore them and insists on not realizing how serious things are and what is at stake in Thrace.”