Far Rightist MPs: "Passenger transport faces the danger of Turkification"

Kyriakos Velopoulos, President of the Greek Solution Party, and Paris Papadakis, MP for Evros (Evros), said that the bus service between Athens and Istanbul has been "monopolised" and is in danger of "Turkification".
In a question to the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Velopoulos and Papadakis asked when the transport of passengers to Türkiye by buses, which has become "monopolised" and is facing "Turkification", will be cancelled.
The parliamentary question jointly signed by Velopoulos and Papadakis included the following statements
"Mr Minister,
A Turkish company regularly connects Thrace with buses on the route Xanthi - Komotini - Alexandroupoli - Istanbul.
In fact, these buses leave from in front of the Xanthi Armoury.
Greece has no passenger transport connecting Thrace to Türkiye, as a result of which Türkiye has a complete monopoly on passenger traffic.
There is no railway connection between Türkiye and Greece. In fact, there are no train services between Drama-Iskeçe-Ormenio.
On Greek territory, in Thrace, a railway network exists but does not operate. This is a disappointment for Northern Greece.
The above facts and decades of Athens' negligence contributed to the Turkification of Thrace.
Therefore, we call on Greece to put an end to the monopolistic Turkish regime of transporting passengers to Turkey.
Even if you have to provide financial support to one or more passenger transport operators, it does not matter whether you solve it with OSE buses, Hellinik Train, KTEL or private companies, this is a national need and a national task.
We ask the minister:
Given all of the above,
What do you intend to do and when do you intend to do it in order to end the monopoly of Turkish passenger transport?
If you are not going to do anything, explain the reasons in detail."
The Truth: Turkish and Greek companies work together
According to the information we obtained from the research conducted by MİLLET newspaper, a Turkish bus company must sign a cooperation agreement with a Greek bus company..
In order for any Turkish bus company to routinely pick up passengers from Greece, it needs special authorisation from the Greek Ministry of Transport. The Ministry grants the authorisation only after a Turkish and a Greek bus company sign a cooperation agreement.
In short, in order to open a bus line connecting Türkiye and Greece, a Turkish and a Greek bus company must sign a cooperation agreement and obtain special authorisation from the Ministry of Transport.
As of today, Athens-Istanbul reciprocal flights continue on certain days of the week. Istanbul-Thessaloniki daily flights are operated without interruption.
One bus is operated by a Turkish company and the other by a Greek company.
Mr Velopoulos and his MP for Evros, who for years have been disturbed by the existence of a bus line or lines operating in this way, either do not know these facts, have not bothered to investigate them or have "deliberately" acted to muddy the waters.
At a time when there is a struggle for a world where visas and even borders are abolished, those who are disturbed by mutual bus services can only be called "paranoid".