Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias responded to recent reports by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Tsavousoglu on Greece's stance on immigration, in a statement from Rome, where he is in a series of contacts.
"[Turkey] has been instrumentalizing immigration and using migrants as a weapon of blackmail between the EU and Greece," Dendias said in a statement, categorically rejecting the Turkish side's allegations of inhumane treatment of Greece. immigrants.
Specifically, the Greek Foreign Minister was asked by a journalist during his statement about the current reports made by Mevlut Tsavousoglou in his meeting with the Finnish Foreign Minister.
"I have not read the statements of the Turkish Minister, and I will call my friend and counterpart [the Finnish Foreign Minister] to tell me what the Turkish Minister told him. But I want to be clear. "The last thing Greece needs are lessons and teachings from Turkey on human rights issues and on handling immigration," Dendias said.
"Turkey, I repeat, is the one that has instrumentalized immigration and used immigrants as a weapon of blackmail between the EU and Greece. "He is not entitled, therefore, to speak, to remind us of an old phrase", he added.
More broadly, Mr. Dendias referred to the meeting he had in Rome with the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General for Libya, Stephanie Turko Williams, explaining that they had an extensive discussion on the situation in Libya today.
In addition, Mr. Dendias noted that he will meet with the Executive Director of the World Food Program and issue him a check to be used for repairs in the port of Benghazi. "A place for which Greece is of vital interest. "I remind you that it is less than 20 minutes flight from Crete", he said.
The Greek Foreign Minister also noted that he will meet with 35 Ambassadors of African, South American and Asian countries, who are accredited in Greece, as part of Greece's campaign for its election to the United Nations Security Council for the period 2025-2026.