The Alternate Minister of National Defence Fotis Kouvelis gave an interview on REAL FM radio station to journalists Vasilis Lyritzis and Dimitris Kampourakis on 17 July 2018.
Fotis Kouvelis stated, among other things:
Regarding the issue of the two Greek officers detained in the prison of Edirne:
There is a strengthening of the political pressures towards Ankara for the two soldiers to be released. These pressures continue to be exerted at many levels. There is no normal situation at a judiciary and legal level for our two army officers. This is why I have spoken also of a barbarity of the Law, in the sense that the two officers remain for more than four months detained without any indictment announced. This is the alleged law of Turkey. These incidents are completely unknown to the culture of law. The emergency situation in Turkey will be lifted tomorrow. If the emergency situation as a law reality was one of Turkey’s arguments, it will be off the table as of tomorrow. This is a political choice of Turkey. Turkey includes this issue of our two officers’ illegal detention in the political tension which Turkey will continue to exert towards Greece. It is a fluctuating tension though, but it is still a tension. In no case will we be engaged in any exchange procedure of our two officers with the eight Turkish officers or with the nine Kurds who were arrested in Greece a few days before Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Athens. Any government cannot be involved in issues related to the exclusive responsibility of Justice. The eight Turks, and one more afterwards, were granted political asylum following an application which was evaluated according to the national, European and international law.
Therefore, any intervention of the government to the work of Justice would be not simply unjustifiable, but even unthinkable.
Regarding a comment on whether Greece can ask for further NATO engagement in the effort for our two officers to be released, Fotis Kouvelis, answered:
The issue was raised in NATO in the clearest manner, in the most purposeful manner during the last attendance of the Prime Minister and of the Minister of National Defence. Pressures are continued. I would like to stress this: Turkey is an ally of the USA in NATO. The American pastor who is not just a vicar in a church but he plays a significant spiritual role in a particular congregation friendly to the Republicans and President Trump, is still in detention in the Turkish prison. And Trump, despite the pressure he exerts, he has not ensured his release yet. What I want to say is that Turkey acts now in this manner. And this is due to the fact that it follows a contradictory foreign policy. On the one hand, it is close to the USA and, on the other hand, it wants to have relations with Putin and it chooses to follow an aggressive rhetoric towards Greece, continuing the violations of our national air space because it wants to keep the field of Aegean Sea disputes, as far as our country is concerned, open, as it believes, with the so called grey zones. The aim of this effort is Turkey to be present in the wider area of the Cypriot EEZ. This is my political estimation and I believe that it is confirmed by the facts. Erdogan will not stop challenging. Some people who stated that the political tension was related only to Erdogan’s election strategy were wrong.
To a question about the manner in which the Ministry of National Defence will ensure the required amount for the VAT no to be increased on the five islands which bear the biggest burden of the refugee and migrant flows, Fotis Kouvelis, underscored:
Our military structure, the structure of a deterrence force is specific and it will continue to be improved. We will find these approximately 25 million euros by cutting other expenses in the Ministry of National Defence. But I assure you that these cuts will not cause any damage to our country’s deterrence force.
When he was asked about the Prespes agreement, the deportation of the two Russian diplomats and the evidence that the government published, the Alternate Minister of National Defence stressed:
The evidence about the activities of the Russian diplomats was collected by us, nobody else provided it, nor has it been forged. I must state very clearly and explicitly that the government has not undergone any pressure in order to do what it did. Our country has not ever applied a policy of deportations, nor has it ever developed a culture of deportations. You should be sure that the government had evidence in order to proceed to the deportation of the Russian diplomats, and it did it in order to defend the country itself and to deter any intervention – at this level at least – in our country’s affairs.
Regarding a comment on the denouncement of FYROM’s Prime Minister about Russian entrepreneurs and diplomats being involved in his country’s affairs, and on whether the Macedonian issue can be a field of a broader dispute among foreign great powers, Fotis Kouvelis stated:
There is this side, of course, in the sense that Russia was one of the first few countries that recognized FYROM as Macedonia in August 1992. It is obvious that Russia does not want our neighbouring country to join the NATO.
Turkey has the same view too. It has declared its opinion through its political decision to penetrate the Balkans by using minority issues. We should not forget that the political objective of Great Albania, stretching from Tirana to Tetovo has been declared and submitted. Based on this fact, Greece should utilize any possible choice within its alliances. And it does it following a multilevel foreign policy. I believe that FYROM will fulfil its obligations of the agreement and the agreement will be ratified by the Hellenic Parliament as soon as possible. According to our Constitution a simple majority suffices, but we would like the ratification of the agreement with FYROM to be ensured by the greatest possible number of parliamentary votes.
