1. As I stated in an interview I gave, the Foreign Ministry announcement on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's speech in Rize on Saturday was not based on what was issued by the Ankara Press Office and the ANA/MPA, in which reference is made to a referendum on Thrace.
2. The source was the official text of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's speech, which was posted on the webpage of the Turkish Presidency, and in which no reference was made to a referendum. The Foreign Ministry announcement was made based on the official text, and this is why it does not contain a reference to a referendum.
3. To the contrary, the reports issued regarding the Turkish "National Contract" were adopted unquestioningly by New Democracy and MEP M. Kafalogiannis, who hastened to submit a relevant question to the European Parliament.
4. New Democracy's Question raises the additional concern, given that high-ranking New Democracy personnel have served at the Foreign Ministry and its Services, and it cannot possibly be unknown to them that the Embassies' Press Offices were not and are not subject to, and are not supervised by, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
5. International relations is not the appropriate field for New Democracy to hold opposition ground exercises in. The policy being exercised will continue with sobriety, composure and resolve.
October 20, 2016