While Turkey is locked in the elections on May 14, neighboring Greece will go to the polls exactly one week later. Before the general elections, political leaders came together on a live broadcast. The leaders’ agenda included the Turkish elections and relations with Türkiye.
Greek Prime Minister and leader of the ruling party New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis, main opposition party SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, Greek Communist Party (KKE) leader Dimitris Koutsubas, Greek Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos and European Realistic Disobedience Front MeRA25 Party leader Yanis Varoufakis, 10 days before the election, he participated in the live broadcast on Greek State Television ERT, listing and evaluating his promises on important issues such as foreign policy, defense industry, economy, health, education and migration crisis.
The live broadcast, in which the seating arrangement was determined by the number of seats in the parliament, lasted about 3 hours. In the program moderated by journalist Giorgos Kouvaras, a total of 36 questions were asked to the leaders under 6 headings.
“I AM READY TO TALK TO WHOM TURKISH PEOPLE CHOSE”
Prime Minister Mitsotakis stated that his government’s armament programs were well planned and did not deviate from fiscal rules. Referring to the elections to be held in Turkey on Sunday, Mitsotakis said: “We will respect the choice of the Turkish people and I am ready to talk to whomever they choose.”
ÇİPRAS SHOWED TURKEY AS AN EXAMPLE
The main opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, said that if he came to power, he would implement the defense agreements signed by the Mitsotakis government, but would involve the Greek defense industry more in production. Emphasizing that the government’s armament program of approximately 15 billion euros did not contribute to the Greek defense industry, Tsipras cited Turkey as an example for the defense industry. Tsipras said, “While 60 percent of Turkey’s defense program is being developed in its own national industry, it is unacceptable that the Mitsotakis government’s armament program worth 15 billion euros does not bring a single euro to the Greek defense industry.”
Tsipras and President Erdogan during his prime ministry
Tsipras stated that it is obvious that the borders should be protected and that if he comes to power, the Mitsotakis government will not break the fences it has built on the borders, and stressed that the migration and refugee problems can only be resolved with negotiations at the European level, not with fences.
ANDROULAKIS: “WHO WINS THE ELECTION IN TURKEY, WE WILL FOLLOW THREE WAYS”
PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, on the other hand, touched upon the relations with Turkey and stated that no matter who wins the elections, his party’s policy will follow three main paths. Androulakis stated that they will remove the veto in the EU to create a European policy towards Turkey, that they will use European funds to protect the borders and strengthen the border wall, since the borders of Greece are also European borders, and that they will strengthen the Greek defense industry with their armament programs.
KKE LEADER KOUTSOUBAS: “SENDING ARMY TO UKRAINE DOES NOT SERVE GREECE’S NEED TO PROTECT ITS AIRSPACE, BORDERS AND SOVEREIGN RIGHTS”
Dimitris Koutsoubas, the leader of the Greek Communist Party, said that all armament agreements signed with France, the USA and other countries serve NATO’s interests and lead to participation in aggressive actions that will make Greece a target of retaliation. “Sending weapons to Ukraine, having Greek Air Force jets over the Balkans and warships sailing in the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea does not serve Greece’s need to protect its airspace, borders and sovereign rights,” Koutsoubas said.
Greek Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos emphasized that in a multipolar world, Greece should not ally with one of the poles, and that the pro-Western stance of the country could not protect itself from foreign policy disasters.
CALL FOR A REGIONAL CONFERENCE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH Türkiye
The leader of the MeRA25 Party, Yanis Varoufakis, also said that it is the duty of every government to defend the land. Stressing that Greece would not seek permission from its allies before using the weapons in its arsenal, but would conduct a dialogue, Varoufakis noted that the priority would be to call a regional conference to resolve Greece’s disagreements with Turkey over the maritime jurisdiction area.
After the end of the voting process and the lifting of the election bans, you can follow the election results on the Mynet election page!
(UAV)