We’ll bury the contemporary Byzantines. We say No to Aegean and the Mediterranean,” Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan shouted to a crowd of half a million people on Sunday during the fiesta he organized to celebrate the 569th anniversary of the Fall of Constantinople.
The fiesta took place at the old Ataturk Airport of Istanbul that the Turkish president will turn into a national park.
The Janissary band gave the rhythm as the crowd waved Turkish flags and cheered on the president and his wife Emine.
The event included an air show by the selected air force squadron and the crowd was consisting of civil servants, school students, local AKP members and simple people who took advantage of the fact the public transport means were free of charge.
For one more time Erdogan fired a personal verbal attack against Kyriakos Mitsotakis complaining about the Greek PM’s speech at the US Congress. After Erdogan’s “I will never speak again with Mitsotakis” beginning of the week, Erdogan said earlier on Sunday.
“From now on, Mitsotakis is no longer my interlocutor. Why? I deal with people who make politics in a personal way. We are friends with those who are friends with us, but they should know well that we do what is necessary with those who see us as enemies.”
During his fiesta speech, Erdogan placed special emphasis on the national goals he has set for the vision of 2053 for a strong and united Turkey.
“The Turks must be united and the national interests of the country are more important than politics. As our ancestors buried τηε Byzantium, let us hope that today by building our vision for 2053, we will also manage to put in the time warp of history the contemporary Byzantines who set up intrigues against us.”
He also referred to the war in Ukraine, saying that the situation between Russia and Ukraine must end. He wondered what Turkey should do about it and replied that it should stop the bloodshed.
“We say stop in Libya, Syria, Iraq, the Mediterranean and the Aegean,” he said, referring to the war in Ukraine as “stop in Crimea.”
The fiesta was well-organized, with men in traditional Ottoman military uniforms standing in front of the podium where Erdogan was speaking.
“Constantinople was the favorite city of the Prophet Muhammad and that is why it was conquered and” fell “from the hands of the Byzantines,” the Turkish President said.
Source: Keep Talking Greece
