Greek Minister of Culture Aristides Baltas released a press statement, Monday, attempting to quell an uproar regarding the possibility that his decision to designate a 10,000 acre area as a protected archaeological site in the region of  Afantou in Rhodes would jeopardise a large tourist investment on the island. The southern Aegean regional authorities had blasted the Minister saying economic development in their region was at risk due to the interventions of irresponsible and obsessive sensitivities by ‘various’ politicians. The €500 million investment involves the creation of a golf course by Greek-American Mercurios Angeliadis, who has threatened to withdraw his interest in the project after the developments. Speaking to local media in Rhodes, Angeliadis said he would seek compensation in European courts for the money he had already spent on plans and studies. Baltas claims that not only will his intervention impede on the investment, but it will help it! The privatisation of the Afantou area is one of the prerequisites agreed with the Quartet. Meanwhile, the situation has cause more cracks within the government, as MP Dimitris Kammenos of the junior coalition partner ANEL said the Minister’s intervention on the issue was ‘incomprehensible and out of place’.