Greek Minister: Let’s make Atatürk’s house in Thessaloniki a Greek Genocide memorial

The Minister of Rural Development Makis Voridis while speaking on MEGA described Erdoğan’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque as “appalling” and noted that Turkey is not interested in having good relations with any western state and international system.

“Anger, resentment, grief, especially in Greece, and a sense of profound insult. Hagia Sophia is not just a world monument of culture, but a world Christian, orthodox symbol,” added Voridis.

“We need answers from the international community and, of course, from Greece,” he said.

When asked about the type of answers that should be given by Greece, Voridis commented that one of the things that can be done immediately and would be an “extremely symbolic” move would be to transform the birthplace of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Thessaloniki into a Greek Genocide Memorial Museum.

“I think it can and should be done immediately,” he said.

“International policy on open channels with Turkey should also be reconsidered. The international community must realise that Turkey is a threat to international stability and that messages must be sent from the West, even at the economic level, in order to suffer the consequences of its reorganisation,” he added.

“We need to make it clear to the West that Erdoğan is becoming ‘completely out of control’ and that Western countries will find it in front of them at some point,” he said.

Voridis’ suggestion also comes as the Greek Solution (Ελληνική Λύση) Political Party suggested to convert Atatürk’s house into a genocide memorial museum, as reported by Greek City Times.

“No Turkish court can desecrate the over-chronic character of the Hagia Sophia,” the party said in a statement just one day before Turkey decided to turn it into a mosque. “On the contrary, Greece can and must turn Kemal’s house into a museum of memory and honour of the victims of the [Greek] Pontian genocide,” Greek Solution said.

The only thing Turkey’s mad drive to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque has done, is provide the legitimacy for Greece to turn Atatürk’s birthplace into a Genocide Museum without any condemnation from Turkey, an opinion piece published by Greek City Times several day’s before Greek Solution’s and Voridis’ suggestion said.