Economou on the case of Hussein Zeibek: SYRIZA should adopt a position regarding Muslim MP’s statements
FILE PHOTO: Government spokesperson Yiannis Economou. Photo via ANA-MPA
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Greece’s geostrategic and geopolitical footprint, as well as its deterrent capability, are at their best level of the last decades, government spokesperson Yiannis Economou said in a television interview with the channel Open on Friday.
“All of our policy, foreign and defensive, has one basic philosophy: to not trap the country in painful dilemmas. To send very clear messages that it is not seeking trouble, that it’s a force for stability,” he said. “On the other hand, however, it also has significant political power and a more-than-adequate deterrent capability to defend its sovereign rights and national interests,” he added.
Referring to Turkey’s provocations, Economou repeated that these have been occurring at consistently high intensity, especially in terms of the rhetoric used, which sometimes bordered on insulting, with historically unfounded and baseless claims in an escalating provocation in the field.
“There is no possibility, obviously that Greece will be frightened. We have prepared for this on all fronts…diplomatically by explaining our positions, which are widely accepted, and by picking apart Turkey’s claims at all fora. We see that this tactic by Turkey leads nowhere…things continue to remain difficult for Turkey,” he said, noting that the world was united in opposing revisionism and that Greece remained calm, decisive and unyielding.
He also commented on the statements made by main opposition SYRIZA’s Muslim MP Hussein Zeibek, saying it was inconceivable that “a Greek MP, of any religion, should use such terms, incite such tensions, call a part of the Greek population Turkish.” He noted that similar cases in the past, involving a PASOK MP, had led to the specific statement being taken back and that there should be a similar reaction on the part of SYRIZA.
“These are behaviours that are not tolerable generally. Even more so in the current climate and conjunction that we find ourselves today,” he added.
Unless the MP retracted, Economou said, there would be a major issue if he remained within SYRIZA and with the stance adopted by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras. “I think it is imperative that SYRIZA immediately adopt a position, criticising the specific practice,” he added.
The spokesperson also ruled out the possibility of Russian intervention in the Greek elections, saying that Greek democracy and Greek institutions were sufficiently strong and that there was no indication that it was among the countries where Russian intervention had been attempted.
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