A deputy speaker of Greece’s parliament has advocated "the necessity of spying on" the country’s Turkish Muslim deputies, local sources reported on Thursday.
Charalambos Athanasiou, who has previously served as justice minister and is 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.
"However, in reality, Charalambos Athanasiou said unequivocally what (Prime Minister Kyriakos) Mitsotakis hinted at in a speech, attempting to cover up the dangerous actions of his government with references to national security and ‘dark forces,’" the statement said.
Calling on the prime minister to dismiss Athanasiou, the party argued that Mitsotakis would have shown that he was consenting to his comments.
The PASOK-KINAL party also said in its statement that Athanasiou’s remarks plunged Greece into intolerance and created a severe national rift by claiming that minority deputies can potentially betray national interests.
"We demand immediate intervention against the deputy parliamentary speaker by explicitly condemning the unacceptable, divisive statement by Athanasiou," it added.
The Greek Communist Party (KKE) noted that Athanasiou proved that the term "national security" has become a band-aid that everyone and everything can fit in to legitimize and facilitate unacceptable practices of monitoring and eavesdropping.
Burhan Baran, a Turkish Muslim deputy with the PASOK-KINAL, also condemned Athanasiou’s remarks.
Referring to the minority deputies of parliament as potential suspects of national treason and therefore saying it would be "legitimate" to monitor them cultivates a spirit of dogmatism and intolerance, Baran stressed.