ANKARA - Stating that the situation of refugees holding in Lavrio Camp is shaped according to the relations between Turkey and Greece, Peace activist Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı said: "The evacuation of the camp was in cooperation with NATO."

 

Lavrio Camp, where Kurdish refugees live in the Greek city of Lavrio, was evacuated by the Greek police on July 5. The evacuation of the camp before the NATO summit was interpreted as a gesture by Greek Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who will meet at the summit.

 

'THE EVACUATION IS NOT INDEPENDENT OF INTERNATIONAL FORCES'

 

Stating that the evacuation of Camp Lavrio was not independent of international forces, Peace activist Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı living in Greece said: "Lavrio Camp has been hosting refugees for about 70 years. Kurdish refugees remained in the camp after the 1980s. The situation of refugees staying in Lavrio Camp is shaped according to the relations between Turkey and Greece, Lavrio camp wrote its name in history as a field of resistance. It was a place of resistance where those who were sentenced to oppression, persecution and imprisonment while they were fighting for democracy in Turkey and Kurdistan, took refuge and breathed. There were attacks on this camp before, but the attacks increased during the new government and Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis. Greece has always used this camp as a trump card against Turkey. When its relations with Turkey are bad, it eases its pressure, and when its relations with Turkey are in a period of normalization, it turns to Lavrio Camp without hesitation. What happened today shows us that."

 

'THE LAST STRAW FOR THE KURDS'

 

Emphasizing that the evacuation of the camp was a process in which NATO cooperated, Yaylalı said: "NATO and the United States put pressure on the Miçotakis government. The evacuation of the camp was the “last straw” for the Kurds. This mistake should be abandoned as soon as possible."

 

'PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE COMPLICIT IN CRIME'

 

Stating that the Greek people do not think like the government and do not approach the Kurds with self-interest, Yaylalı said: “I think that the Greek people and the Kurdish people have a unity of destiny because both peoples have been systematically attacked by the Turkish state for years. During the time of the Turkish state, more than 1.5 million Greeks were massacred in the Black Sea and Aegean regions. Türkiye is currently killing the Kurdish people. In this sense, both peoples have a common destiny. In this sense, I want the Greek people to raise their voices against the government. The Greek people should not be complicit in the government's crime. The Greek people should be more active against the crimes against the Kurdish people.”

 

MA / Hakan Yalçın