Athens breaks the taboos

Taki BERBERAKIS - ATHENS

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou broke one of the most important taboos of the Greek politics, saying, the minority in the West Trace could be identified as "Turks."
In an interview with "Klik" monthly Mr. Papandreou said, "If Turkish minority definition is used by a country as a way to cause conflict and territorial change, it would cause a real problem." "If no one is suspicious about our territory, then I wouldn't care whether they are called Turks or not," he said.
"There is no doubt that most of the muslims living in West Trace are Turkish origin. Naturally the agreements also mention a Turkish minority," he added.
Mr. Papandreou's statement coincided with a demand from three Turkish minority parliament members who made a call for the recognition of Turks.
Galip Galip from Pasok, Birol Akifoglu from New Democracy and Mustafa Mustafa from Left Alliance earlier demanded the recognition of ethnical identity of the Turkish minority in West Trace.