Earthquake in Turkey: “They see the Greek flag and applaud”, says the Greek ambassador in Ankara

The Greek ambassador in Ankara reports that despite the tense relations between Greece and Turkeythe same is not true for the Turkish people, who are now applauding the Greek flag, on the occasion of Greek aid to deal with the consequences of earthquake.

THE Christodoulos Lazaris spoke to ERT and said that “clearly there is a relaxation of the tensions we had before. In terms of world events, it doesn’t surprise me. There was always a good mood at the audience level. Clearly, the current Turkish government gladly accepts our help as well and thus it is understood that it maintains a more relaxed position. Now if they will keep these in time it will be seen”.

At the same time, he stated that “we have not changed our attitude, we have always been… if you like, we have maintained a rational attitude towards Turkey. The question is whether Turkey will also want to adjust its attitude to what is obvious: that we are a country that always lends a helping hand whenever needed.”

“I will tell you that the Press Office of the Embassy and only on the tweets that we have put out from time to time regarding our support to the affected populations, we collect within 24 hours up to 40,000 likes. That says something. Besides that you can also see on the road that stops at the traffic lights, people see the Greek flag on the car and start clapping etc. All this is very human. They are very good. We hope that the leaders here will capitalize on this willingness of the people to have a rapprochement with our country and to move forward on this path. From such an attitude, Turkey has only won”, he then added, referring to the positive reactions for the Greek EMAK which participates in the rescue investigations.