The detainment of two Greek soldiers is a “wound” for NATO, said Alexis Tsipras
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras described on Wednesday the detainment of two Greek soldiers by Turkey, a fellow NATO member, as a “wound” for the western alliance.
“It is a wound for all of NATO the unprecedented fact that two soldiers from a NATO country are being detained by another NATO country for more than four months because they passed a few meters into its territory by mistake and without any charges laid against them,” said Tsipras at the NATO summit in Brussels and called on Turkey to help the wound heal by returning the two soldiers.
The Greek premier also raised the issue of Turkey’s aggression saying that “it is a permanent wound for the alliance that fact that our neighboring country insists on violating international law in our area and aims for the exemption of the Aegean Sea from operational planning at the cost of our collective abilities.”
In comments aimed at NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Tsipras said “Mr Secretary General, today’s summit gives the opportunity to all of us to confirm our collective desire to prove our unity. Our role in the world will not be solely decided by our ability to protect the alliance from external threats or to manage challenges and crises beyond our borders. It will be decided by the relations of mutual respect that we ought to have between us as written in article 1 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This must be secured by NATO. And Greece will fight for this.”
Source: ANA-MPA