July 20, 2005 - 11:06 AMT
GREEK CHURCH ARCHBISHOP ACCUSED EU LEADERS IN «DEPRIVING EU OF CHRISTIAN BACKGROUND»
Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos has addressed MPs and political figures of Greece a report titled «Turkey at EU threshold. Turkey with an Islamic face, Europe in a mask.» Having noted that «Turkish tsunamis demolish everything,» the Archbishop presented his approaches to the issue of Turkish-Greek rapprochement and presented arguments against Turkish membership in the EU. The report censured the Greek Government's policy regarding Turkey, as well as accusations of EU leaders, «who unconsciously deprive the EU of its Christian background.» The section «Hellenism against Turkish tsunami» said that whenever Turkey approaches Europe, it will be fraught with undesirable consequences for Hellenism. «Even activities of Western-leaning Turks have always resulted in misfortune to Hellenism and it never taught a lesson to Greeks,» Archbishop Christodoulos stated. He added, «the reason lies in totally destructive nature of the Turkish tsunami.» The period of friendship between the EU and Turkey, that started December 17, 2004, «will strongly strike on Hellenism with mathematical accuracy,» the Greek Archbishop stated.