Greece lodges demarche to Turkey over Greek governor’s entry ban

Greece lodges demarche to Turkey over Greek governor’s entry ban
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Update: 10 November 2022 20:50
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Greece has lodged a demarche to Turkish Foreign Ministry over Central Macedonia Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas’ entry ban and detention in western Izmir port at the weekend

Greece has lodged a demarche to Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday in protest of a Greek governor’s entry ban and detention in western Izmir at the weekend.

The demarche was submitted by the Greek ambassador Christodoulos Lazaris, Kathimerini newspaper reported on Thursday. 

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the Governor of Central Macedonia Region who travelled to Izmir from Thessaloniki by sea to attend a conference on Saturday, was stopped by Turkish authorities from entering Turkey and kept detained in an office for six hours, without no explanation, according to Greek media.

On the same day, the Greek Foreign Ministry issued a statement, strongly condemning Ankara over Tzitzikostas’ entry ban, describing it as “unacceptable and abusive.”

“We expect the relevant Turkish authorities to give an immediate explanation and we call on them to take the necessary measures to avoid similar incidents in the future,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said.

According to Kisadalga news website, Turkish officials said Tzitzikostas was kept on hold due to a technical problem stemming from a name similarity with someone with entry restrictions. After the problem was resolved, Tzitzikostas was informed that he could enter Izmir and continue his programme, but he refused to do so, it said.