Athens, Greece, Aug 17, 2007 / 07:36 am
Greek-Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus yesterday condemned Ankara for refusing to issue him a visa so that he could conduct a planned visit to Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios later this week, according to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
“Although I believed that Turkey had wanted to show Europe, which it aims to join, and the rest of the world that it is a democratic and liberal country, it has thrown off its mask,” Chrysostomos said.
European Union members should be aware that the candidate state “does not respect human rights,” he added. The archbishop said he believed Ankara's move was provoked by its opposition to Nicosia’s (the capitol of Cyprus) plans to explore for oil in the eastern Mediterranean