Turkish extreme-right party leader to Greece: Remember what happened in 1922

Talks to party members

The leader of the extreme right Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli openly threatened Greece that if its army wanted to be thrown into the sea again, the Turkish army was ready. Commenting on the recent increasing tensions between the two countries in the Aegean Sea, Mr. Bahceli said that Turkey would respond to the Greek moves in the Aegean as it had done in the past, during an address to his party group. Referring to the Cypriot matter and the during his speech, the leader of the nationalist party banged his fist on the desk warning the Greek-Cypriots that Cyprus was and will remain Turkish. “If the Greek-Cypriots want to unite with Greece at all costs they must leave the island and migrate to Athens and never return back”, he said. Mr. Bahceli claimed the Chief of the Greek armed forces had visited islands that were under Greek occupation, referring to the recent visit by the top military official to the Greek island of Oinouses. “Someone should inform the Greek government about what happened in 1921-22”, he said in a clear reference to the Minor Asia disaster, as the period is know in Greek history when the Greek army was pushed back by the Turks.