Greek Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis has made a powerful statement that Greece is not afraid of Turkey and that it is not a big superpower as many people think is, after also attacking his political rivals in Athens.
"This time we must not just distribute money, we must change the structure of the Greek economy. If we achieve this, the result of this money will accompany us for the next 100 years," Georgiadis told THEMA 104.6 in relation to the money that will arrive in Greece from Europe as part of measures to reduce effects on the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Minister of Development also conveyed his annoyance for the statement by former Minister of Finance, Euclid Tsakalotos, that there should be growth in the second quarter of 2020.
"I was very bothered by the statement of Mr. Tsakalotos. Mr. Tsakalotos is a serious man for his ideology. I may disagree with him completely but you can neither call him light nor ridiculous. He is a person who was a finance minister that played a key role in ousting the Tsipras government. Because he managed to convince the foreigners that he is a serious person and reliable, that is why Tsipras was finally able to get in touch with them outside, otherwise he would have fallen from the first year," Georgiadis said.
"The man who has entered the Eurogroup, who has been negotiating, who has a degree in economics, says he was waiting for the 2nd quarter - with quarantine in April and a curfew, with partial quarantine in May in most of the economy and 100% in tourism, with partial quarantine in June - to come out and say we should have growth, that's comical. The measures worked and went more than 10% better than the IMF predicted and about 8% better than the Commission expected," he continued.
Regarding the quarter, the Minister of Development estimated that it will be much better despite the big drop in tourism.
"Because I read tweets of various SYRIZA officials, who are waiting for the third quarter of Armageddon. The third quarter started with the big credit expansion. Also, tourism had an upside-down effect... Yes, not so much tourist income entered Greece, but tourists from Greece did not leave abroad. Investments continued normally, so the third quarter will be much better than the second," explained the Minister of Development.
"In the first half of 2020, the recession was below 8%. What I am claiming is that the recession of the third quarter will not be much more than 8% and the recession of the fourth quarter, with all that we plan to implement, will be much smaller. Unfortunately 2020 wanted to bring us all the difficulties it could. However, despite this difficulty, we will not fall out of our final predictions," added Georgiadis.
The Minister of Development also referred to the reactions that took place after the announcement that he entered quarantine after a meeting with an Israeli investor that has coronavirus, saying that "the most annoying (tweet) is of Mr. Kretsos. Mr. Kretsos made a very big mistake, not so much because he mocked a health issue that in itself is a bit cheap... Imagine if the test sample comes out positive tomorrow, how will Mr. Kretsos feel about what he uploaded?"I can hit wood, I can get seriously ill ... how will Mr. Kretsos feel?" he questioned.
Commenting on the Turkish provocation, Georgiadis said "I believe that Mr. Erdoğan is in a constant delusion. Going out and threatening wars and rivers of blood in France or insulting Macron in this way should be of serious concern to Turkish citizens because it goes beyond the bounds of diplomacy and politics."
"There is no doubt that Erdoğan has in mind the revival of the Ottoman Empire. Anyone who thinks that Greece is afraid is making a big mistake. In these 35 days that we are with the fleet in the Aegean - because it is the biggest mobilization of the fleet in decades - we have made Greece an extremely better war-ready reality than many might have thought.," he explained.
"Those who said that Turkey would make a fuss and Greece would collapse, have been solemnly refuted. Now, it is in the interest of states in the region to see Turkey gather.
He then said Turkey has a bigger internal issue as a large part of the Turkish people do not realize that all this is harming their own lives.
"Things are not as simple for Mr. Erdoğan as Turkey is not a big superpower as many people think. It is a strong country, it needs respect, it will be our neighbor forever but we are not afraid of it, we do not give it national sovereignty, we do not retreat under the regime of threats, we do not give up what is ours. When they understand this in Turkey, we will have a very good and peaceful future. If they do not understand them in Turkey, unfortunately they will understand them in a bad way."
