Grim accusations from LAOS MP against daily Birlik

Kiriakos Velopoulos*, Member of the Greek Parliament from Popular Orthodox Rally submitted a motion to the Parliament for the closure of daily Birlik. Accordingly, “Birlik” was accused of making dangerous plans to provoke Muslims in the Balkans parallel to Turkey’s expansionist policies for the region of Balkans.

Groundless accusations are to be discussed at the Greek Parliament

In the news, the reason behind the motion was stated to be the news “Black wreath to the Greek Consulate”. Accordingly, that news was disseminated to the readers after it was published on the web page of the daily. Daily Birlik affirmed that the news was written by the Kamil Bitis, Secretary General of Albanian Brotherhood Association, adding that the news was taken from the web page of the Association. In the news, it was underlined that following the publishment of the news in the daily Birlik, Ilhan Tahsin owner of the newspaper was invited to the Gümülcine (Komotini) Police Station to make a deposition about the issue.

İlhan Tahsin stated that he would try all the legal ways and protect his rights, stating that: “MP from LAOS targets me unfairly and the motion submitted by Velopoulos accuses me and my newspaper to service as the press organ of the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in Komotini and this hurts myself and my newspaper seriously. Furthermore, that does not reflect the truth. I will do everything what is necessary, being in conformity with legal procedure.”

Habipoglu: Groundless accusations aganist daily Birlik contradicts with press freedom

Halit Habipoglu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), stated that “It is very regrettable that Daily Birlik was accused of being the press organ of the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in Komotini. It seriously contradicts with the press freedom that a newspaper was defined as a press organ of another government or a group of people due to its opposing stance. With groundless accusations, PM from LAOS targets Ilhan Tahsin and his newspaper. We condemn the motion that targets daily Birlik on groundless accusations and express our support for Ilhan Tahsin.”

* Photo source: Daily Birlik