Cypriot students protest Turkish far-rightist’s visit

June 30, 2012 | Filed under: Geopolitics

Police in Thessaloniki made limited use of tear gas on Thursday when groups of Cypriot students and supporters of the neo-Nazi Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) party gathered to protest outside the Turkish Consulate during a visit by the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli.

Bahceli was guided around the building, which was the childhood home of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Bahceli had earlier conducted a visit to Thrace, where he met with representatives of the Muslim minorities in several towns.

He will be traveling to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) next.

Source: ekathimerini.com

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  • kasomoulis

    I agree with the students: Turkish propaganda has no business there!
    The “Turks” in Thrace are muslim Greecs by treaty. The lines have been drawn – If a muslim there feels strongly about Turkey…. well… they can just buy a train ticket to TUrkey. If they change their mind they can return and live their lives as Greeks. This has gone long enough!

    • Emre

      You can’t change the identity of people! If they feel like Turk, they feel like Turk, if they feel like Greek then they feel like Greek. Can’t they live in Greece and feel like Turk? What are Fxxx you talking about? Earth to kaso…are we living in the same world? You sound like a Nazi!!!

      • kasomoulis

        Feeling like a Turk is not the problem Emre, The problem is only if they actively support actions against the country’s (EU’s really) laws and cause trouble for the country they live in! Farther I am saying the Turkish government has a lot to do with this because they try to cause a situation in West Thrace! First Turkey expels all Greeks from anatolia then it capitalizes on the Turkish diaspora by doing propaganda that will probably turn out to hurt Turkey itself. What the heck kind of foreign policy is that ?
        I think I made it clear they can go to Turkey if they feel it is better for them there. If on the other hand they do not like it there either, they can come back. What do you not agree or understand about that?
        Why are the Greek Turkish Muslims any different than the German born or the Swiss born Turkish Muslims?

        • kasomoulis

          Emre,

          You say: “You can’t change the identity of people!” I say; Turkey and the Ottomans are the only ones in the last 800 years that changed the identity of people!.. by the sword!
          Why can you not understand that? You may wake up one day and realize you hail from the old Greeks or Armenians or Jews. What is so horrible about that?
          Why is Turkey instigating Muslim malevolent feelings in Thrace if not to cause trouble for Greece now that the country is within an economic crisis?

        • Emre

          It is you who claim that Turks in Greece are Muslim Greeks by treaty. No treaty can make or force people feel the way they feel as you suggest. Nazis tried to do it against the Jews and it didn’t work fine. By saying that Turkish descendants are Greeks and to impose that they are are the same thing which you say Ottomans did by sword. And no it doesn’t give you the right to do that just because Ottomans did it 800 years ago.
          So what if the so called Muslim Greeks don’t like their government’s behaviour? They have the right to protest correct? And what supporting action you are talking about? Is there a rebellion in West Thrace or sth?
          Turkey expels Greeks from Anatolia? You probably have some failures in memory. After the Greeks Anatolian adventure failed, there had been a population exchange between the 2 countries. What about the Turks expelled from Greece?
          German Turkish Muslims also receive visits from our political leaders. Why the heck is Greece so sensible about it?
          No way that the Greek Muslim (Turkish descendants) should be threatened to leave Greece if they feel like a Turk. That is the kind of nationalism and extremism that we don’t want to have in the region…but you still didn’t understand that more pressure you apply to your Greek Muslims, more Turk will they feel?
          Mr. Bahceli if visited the muslim leaders in Thrace, he did very well and he has right to do so…You don’t need to get Nazi with all this…

          • kasomoulis

            YOU say;
            “German Turkish Muslims also receive visits from our political leaders. Why the heck is Greece so sensible about it?
            No way that the Greek Muslim (Turkish descendants) should be threatened to leave Greece if they feel like a Turk. That is the kind of nationalism and extremism that we don’t want to have in the region…but you still didn’t understand that more pressure you apply to your Greek Muslims, more Turk will they feel?”

            You are actually insinuating some of the above to make your point I did not say that the Turks “must” leave if they feel they are Turks! Please go back and read again! The Muslim Greeks have three deputies in the Greek parliament. How many Greek descendants in Turkey are in the Turkish parliament? I am not talking about before but after the population exchange and you know it!
            Oh there are no Greeks in Turkey! well… we can forget about that and start over… move on right? Did you ever ask yourself why there are no Christian Greeks in Turkey?
            The difference between the Greek from the German Muslims is that Turkey has amassed over 100K army with incredible equipment for invasion at the E/W Thrace borders!
            The politician that visits currently Thrace (d. Bahceli) is no different than the GD jerks from our side, and that embarrasses us. Bahceli is freely moving propagandizing in WT without complain from the Greek government. My objection is only that he is actually taking advantage of the economic situation to spread Turkish nationalism in our Greek muslim population!
            If a Greek functionary would attempt to do the same in Turkey he would be held in the Turkish airport for questioning (it happened just a few years back).
            THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR TWO COUNTRIES AND HOW MUCH NATIONALISM AND WHERE IT ACTUALLY EXISTS IS OBVIOUS TO THE HISTORICAL OBSERVERS… All one has to do is read it!

          • Emre

            Kaso kaso kaso…
            You continue to make unreal comparisons. And please decide one for all of the terms when you use Greek Muslims and Christian Greeks. So when it is in Greece, they are Greek Muslims, when it is in Turkey it is Christian Greeks? Your hyprocracy is way beyond!
            But I will answer anyway…Turkey had/has Jew Foreign Minister, Kurd Prime Minister, several Kurd parliament members. Just in Istanbul there are several synagogues, churches for Christian, Jew citizens to practice their religion. If a Greek descendant Turk wants to get into politics they enter. There has been at least 20 parliament members in today’s Turkey (since 1923) with Greek, Armenian descendants…
            Independent of Greeks economical situation, our party leaders or representatives of Turkey should visit these communities in Greece or any other place in the world. I find no link of your economical situation to these visits. Bahceli’s party has nothing to do with your Golden Dawn. We shouldn’t mix nationalistic feelings with extremism. Golden Dawn even suggests that the blood they donate should only be given to Greek nationals and Greek descendants. That is Nazi like talk and no, you won’t find this kind of conversation in Turkey in any political party. Because it is un-human. Noone would vote on them. But for GD to have 7% of votes, it means there is a basis for this kind of political parties in Greece. As I said, I don’t want to make comparisons but as you like to make them, I have to respond this way…

          • kasomoulis

            Emre
            I only made the characterization ” Christian Greeks in Turkey” (after 1923 remaining Greeks in Turkey) to distinguish them from any suggestion that there are plenty of convert Greeks in Turkey that are not considered any different than any other Turk. My point is there are no Greeks in your parliament. You mention Kurds… well unless you read different press as far as I know they do not represent the actual 22% or there about of the real Kurdish population in your parliament. Yes I must agree occasionally the current Turkish government is doing some of the things that are long time overdue – the world is wondering if this is just “for our eyes only” to avert world criticism.
            As for the West Thrace Greek/Turkish front the possibility of a Turkish invasion is real! Ask yourself why 100 thousand Turkish troops?
            Also your “churches and synagogues”… yes there is an improvement. At the same time in the Cyprus north a Greek church is currently razed and is being converted to a municipal service building.
            Turkey will not change its image unless it maintains a steady change in its International Davutoglian behavior.
            Ask yourself and your friends if they have any misgivings on the Turkish aggressive behavior toward all your neighbors. If the consensus is “overwhelming pride”and no regrets! then you know what I am talking about, if they do have objections … well, then Turkey is on the right track!
            We will see.

      • kasomoulis

        What? no answer ? You are so familiar with the word nazi. Little you know the Germans tailored it after your grandfathers!! so the legend goes… Die Tuerken haben es erst gleich getan!!!!

  • Frednordblo1

    The crux of the matter is that the Treaty of Lausanne identified the Muslims of Thrace by religion, not ethnicity. Some of these Muslims are Turks, others are mostly Pomak. Turkey’s propaganda claims that ALL Greek Muslims are Turks, which is not the case. That is the sneaky game that Turkey is playing. It’s a game of manipulating demographics and propaganda.