The President of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance, Alexis Tsipras, launched a fierce attack on Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his handling of the issue of the Muslim minority, in an interview he granted to CRETE TV and journalist Giorgos Sachinis, which will be broadcast later this evening.

In particular, in the controversial excerpts from the interview, Mr. Tsipras emphasized that “Mr. Mitsotakis is engaging in exercises of irresponsibility in a sensitive national issue. He is lying that he had informed me about anything before the election and it is very critical that someone who was prime minister for four years and wants to win the election again and be in the next years to manage sensitive national issues, is lying and wants to take advantage in the election arena these kinds of issues that whoever the government will be in the next day, whoever the prime minister will be, he will find them in front of him, whether it’s me or him,” he said, referring to an interview with Evangelos Venizelos in which, as he said, “he wondered if our Muslim fellow citizens in Thrace had voted for the N.D. would this commotion be happening today.”

He also reminded that “Ms. Bakoyannis, the sister of Mr. Mitsotakis, went to Thrace in order to blackmail the Muslim minority by saying that if you don’t vote ND you will spend four difficult years”, commenting that “this was a message not only to the minority, but to every social group that may have a different opinion the next day from the point of view of the regime, because they want to impose a regime, party and family”. “In 2012, Mrs. Bakoyannis participated in the national elections, she got 2.5% nationwide and got 18% in Rodopi, 70% in Iasmos. What had he made a deal with Erdogan? Was it a national exception? Its a shame. These are shameful to say”, he underlined.

Mr. Tsipras noted on the occasion of the revelation about a ND candidate who declares himself a “Turk of Western Thrace” that Mr. Mitsotakis “is a hypocrite and plays dangerous games with our national issues” while accusing him of being responsible for a piecemeal leak to the press confidential newsletters of the EYP for the needs of his pre-election campaign”.

“Is this an attitude of seriousness and national responsibility from someone who manages and will manage critical national issues if he becomes prime minister again? Is this an attitude of national responsibility? And what exactly is he asking me to do? To create a major institutional and national crisis? That is, to come out and say that there are some Greek citizens whose judgment is not free and you Greek citizens of the Muslim minority, who vote for these candidates, I remove them, because I judge that your judgment is manipulated? And to say this and do it creating a state crisis, an institutional crisis, possibly a social crisis and instability in a sensitive area, but also a national crisis. Is that what he’s asking me to do? Is he that irresponsible? And why does he do all this? To win 15 thousand more votes, so that there is no part of the electoral map with another color, besides his party? Will this arrogance, this arrogance be seen the next day? We will applaud this arrogance, I am addressing all democratic citizens, and this attitude is miserable and unacceptable, but the attitude of equal distances is also unacceptable”, he added, accusing the president of PASOK-KINALL, Nikos Androulakis, of equal distances. He expressed the opinion that “if the correlations of May 21 are repeated”, “the message will be very harsh, obviously not for the Muslim minority, because there everything is done for votes, the message will be very harsh for any social group that resists ».

Continuing, Al. Tsipras spoke of “a despicable plan by Mr. Mitsotakis, who was not prime minister in those days and managed confidential documents of the EYP and channeled fragmentary information from these documents, in order to set up his political game”, commenting that, “not makes an impression on him”, because “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during his days had become a personal intelligence service and monitored through the predator half of the political system, his political opponents, his ministers – and he obviously saw the notes of what they said – he monitored the chiefs of the armed forces”.

Answering a question, if “Mr. Mitsotakis made the institutional mistake and sent them as president of the ND and not as prime minister”, Al. Tsipras replied: “Mr. Mitsotakis had not yet left the Maximos Palace, however 48 hours after the result – let’s put it that way – he too was “caretaker prime minister” until the next one was sworn in. He chose to do this without doing the obvious. To ask the commander of the EYP to inform the leader of the official opposition. What makes more sense? But he didn’t do that. He sent an envelope – which could have fallen on the street – with a top secret newsletter, which he sent to me, and a few days later – I repeat, pay attention and it matters why I say this – fragments of it were published. Because there are others that have not been published.”