Greek official advocates ‘necessity’ of spying on country’s Turkish Muslim deputies

ANKARA (AA) – A deputy speaker of Greece’s parliament has advocated “the necessity of spying on” the country’s Turkish Muslim deputies.

Charalambos Athanasiou, who is also a former justice minister and currently a deputy from the ruling conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) party, was referring to the three Muslim Turkish deputies, who all hail from the country’s Western Thrace region, as potential agents of Türkiye, according to the Left.Gr news outlet, which cited an interview he gave Wednesday to the StoNisi news channel.

“Let’s suppose that a member of parliament who has a religious orientation completely different from Orthodox Christians gives information to a neighboring country — Türkiye — about where irregular immigrants can come in,” he said, adding that national intelligence would have to take precautions in such a scenario, according to the outlet.

Asked whether the deputies can be monitored, Athanasiou replied: “If the procedure provided for by the legislator is followed, of course.”

His remarks caused an uproar, particularly from the country’s leftist opposition parties

The main opposition party SYRIZA-PS, stressed in a statement that Athanasiou essentially claims that those who are not Orthodox Christians are national threats.

Calling on the prime minister to dismiss Athanasiou, the party argued that Mitsotakis will have shown that he is consenting with his comments.

The PASOK-KINAL party also said in its statement that Athanasiou’s remarks plunge Greece into intolerance and create a severe national rift by claiming the minority deputies can potentially betray national interests.