The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas,  today Saturday 8 April 2017,  visited Istibei Fort in Serres and attended the commemorative celebrations in honour of the battle of forts  during the German invasion which began on April 6, 1941.  

The Alternate Minister in his address stressed that “As Greeks we have the ability, the will, the means, much more the courage,  to defend the rights of our country, the rights of mankind and human rights”.

Then he signaled the start of the “Sacrifice Run” , 14 km long, organized under the auspices of them MoD – Supreme Athletics Council of the Armed Forces in which participated students of Military Academies.

Then followed a guided tour of the Fort and the Alternate Minister presented the MoD coat of arms to Konstantinos Kyriakou, brother of Corporal Elias  Kyriakou who heroically fell fighting in the battle of forts.

The Alternate Minister, answering the questions of journalists stated the following:

On the Turkish provocativeness:

“ Greece is a sovereign country which respects and abides by the rules of International Law. We haven’t gained anything for free. For us there are no “grey zones”. We respect the sovereign rights of all countries and we defend ours, which we recognize and don’t hold discussions on them”.