Greece’s Foreign Ministry issued a démarche to Turkey
The Greek Embassy in Ankara made a démarche to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest the wrongful and unjustified detention and deportation order against the President of the Panpontian Federation of Greece, George Varythymiadis, the country's Foreign Ministry reported on Friday.
It is noted that Mr. Varythymiadis travelled to Istanbul in order to attend, as a representative of the Pontian Hellenism, the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy at the Panagia Soumela Monastery in Trabzon.
Turkish authorities deported George Varythymiadis upon arrival in Istanbul. The federation had announced earlier that Varythymiadis had been detained in the transit area of Istanbul’s international airport and not allowed to enter Turkey. Other members of the group Varythimiadis was travelling with, including the president of the Athens Journalists’ Union (ESIEA), Maria Antoniadou, were allowed to continue on their journey, the federation said.