Some Greeks who migrated from Turkey's Gökçeada Island to Greece years ago have started to come back to the island because of the economic crisis in their country. Gökçeada Mayor Ünal Çetin told an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter that Greeks who migrated to Greece and established businesses there many years ago have started to come back to Gökçeada because of the economic crisis.

He said Greek citizens have begun leaving their jobs in their country and decided to live in Gökçeada, adding they say: "We will spend the rest of our lives on Gökçeada." Greek citizens started working on the island by opening small shops.

Stressing that there are many Greeks who migrated from Gökçeada to Greece years ago, Çetin said those people visit Gökçeada, especially during the summer months. "Greek visitors come to the Virgin Mary Festival and attend the fair held on the island in August, which makes us extremely happy, but I think we will be affected negatively this year because of the economic crisis in Greece," the mayor said. He said that the Greek population on Gökçeada is dense and that a lot of Greek citizens spend certain periods of the year on the island.

For this reason, the economic crisis in our neighbor country affected them too, Çetin said, adding: "Greek citizens coming to Gökçeada are very valuable for us. We love them, and we see ourselves as the collateral of their existence here. Smiles on our Greek citizens' faces make us happy. The economic crisis faced in Greece saddens us as a neighbor country." Underscoring that they held a football tournament last year for the first time to contribute to the improvement of relations between Turkey and Greece, Çetin said they will host a second tournament on Aug. 13.