“Today, the day of Panaghia, the day of Tinos, and the day of the sinking of ‘ELLI’ in 1940, is a great day for our country. The entire Greek people, united, welcome the two Greek servicemen who found themselves held prisoner in Turkish maximum security prison for several months.
I would like to send a message of unity of the Greek people who, with great emotion during the imprisonment of the two Greek servicemen, showed unity and patriotism.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, the Government, and the Greek people, we welcome them home. I hope that their release on this great day will signify a new day for Greek-Turkish relations. We can live together. We can live peacefully to the benefit of both peoples. We can live by building the future of both countries, in respect of international law and international treaties.
On behalf of the Armed Forces, I welcome, together with the military leadership, the Greek Officer and the Greek NCO. I publicly congratulate them for remaining true to their oath as loyal and honourable soldiers, for not giving up the Flag, for serving it in captivity, and for returning to Greece to continue being true to their oath to the Armed Forces.
These are the people of the Armed Forces. We welcome them on this day of the Dormition of the Theotokos”.
