The dream of Deputy Foreign Minister Katsaniotis remains alive
Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Andreas Katsaniotis paid an official visit to the island of Imvros, located in the Aegean Sea of Turkey, between January 31st and February 2nd.
Katsaniotis attended an official opening ceremony with Patriarch Bartholomeos of Fanari in a recently restored church. "We are leaving Imbros but our heart will stay here. The dream remains alive." Katsaniotis wrote in a post on his personal account.
In addition, Katsaniotis, referring to the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923, added, "We support the implementation of the Lausanne Treaty; we will constantly remind Turkey of its formal commitments."
ABTTF:
Regarding the issue, the President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oglu stated:
“This visit by Katsaniotis is a very natural act and has been welcomed as it should be. I would like to ask Katsaniotis who stated that our country Greece, supports the Treaty of Lausanne and that they will remind Turkey of its commitments.
Just like the visit he realised, when officials from our motherland Turkey visit Western Thrace, our country denies that we are ‘Turkish’ and accuses our motherland with unfounded accusations that it is provoking. In this case, who should be reminded of the commitments arising from the Treaty of Lausanne and international agreements? In addition, cultural and religious structures connected to the Greek society are restored in our motherland Turkey, while in our country our mosques are left to their fate and ravaged.
I hope that on his return to Greece, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Katsaniotis will pass through Western Thrace, observe the current state of our historical buildings left by the Ottoman Empire in the region and salute the Turkish community in the Western Thrace, which has the same rights as the Greek community in Turkey but shares a different fate.”