Under the title: "Erdoğan's words created a crisis in Greece," the Turkish newspaper Sözcü refers in detail to the reactions caused in Greece by the latest statements of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who went so far as to defiantly assert that in 1922: "The Greeks burned Smyrna," distorting history.
"President Erdoğan's speech at the August 30th Victory Day event provoked the reaction of the Greek government," notes Sözcü, noting: "A new tension has arisen on the Ankara-Athens line, where normalisation steps have recently been taken. Reacting to NATO's wishes for August 30, the Greek government criticised President Erdoğan's speech yesterday."
Speaking at an event marking the 101st anniversary of the Turkish victory against the Greeks and allied forces in 1922, the Turkish president referred to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, saying that he won the war against the enemy: "who with his treacherous ambitions and his dirty boots soiled our permanent homeland Anatolia".
The speech took place in the forecourt of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, where the portraits of Kemal Atatürk and Erdoğan dominated the front.
"In his speech yesterday, Erdoğan stated that Turkish flags were flying in the sky of Izmirs, which was burned and destroyed by the fleeing enemy 15 days after the start of the Great Offensive. These words greatly impacted Athens and provoked a reaction from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs," wrote the outlet.
Sözcü concluded that the announcement by the Turkish president's "do not help the development of relations between the two countries and are harmful."
The provocative statement of the Turkish president was preceded by the congratulatory message of NATO to Turkey, specifically of the NATO Land Forces Command (LANDCOM) based in Izmir, for the celebration of the so-called "Victory Day" on August 30 - the day when the attack of the Kemalist forces began and led to the defeat of the Greek Army on the Asia Minor Front, which also marked the final stage of the Greek Genocide.
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