Ankara’s temporary entry ban on a Greek official was not a tit-for-tat move but rather the result of a technical misunderstanding, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Monday.
Tensions have once again risen after Türkiye denied entry to a Greek regional governor who arrived by boat in Izmir to preside over a regional body's plenary session.
Çavuşoğlu on Monday told reporters that the move was not intended to be retaliatory.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, governor of Central Macedonia and first vice president of the European Union’s Committee of the Regions, said Turkish authorities did not provide a reason for denying him entry Saturday and keeping him in a room for over six hours.
“We unequivocally condemn the unacceptable and totally unjustified detention and entry ban imposed on the governor of Central Macedonia by the Turkish authorities in Izmir,” Greece’s Foreign Ministry said.
In the end, after protests by both Greece and the EU, Türkiye lifted the entry ban, but Tzitzikostas decided to leave anyway and not attend the 13th plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly, a body over which he presides, on Monday and Tuesday.
Turkish officials said the misunderstanding was due to a similarity in names and was solved thereafter.
“This incident was a misunderstanding, but what Greece is doing is intentional,” the foreign minister added, referring to the fact that Athens continues to uphold entry bans against Turkish officials, including the head of the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), Abdullah Eren.
“We informed them (Greece). We also demanded that the ban on the YTB head is lifted, otherwise, we will retaliate,” Çavuşoğlu said.
