Greece’s exports to Turkey were worth $4.5 billion past year – mainly mineral oil and other petroleum products, plus cotton.
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Reuters reports the silence at the stadium was broken by chants and a chorus of boos from spectators before the game began at Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.
But Turkey manager Fatih Terim was not having any of it.
“We are not a nation that is intolerant to the extent of not being able to display respect to the national anthem of a country”, Erdogan said in an interview on Turkish television on Thursday, calling the incident “incredible”, and asking, “How would we regard it if others had done the same to us?” This is not child’s play. “It is significant. The terror threat is depressing and thought-provoking”, he added.
More than 650,000 migrants and refugees, have reached the Greek islands so far in 2015 using the eastern Mediterranean route, the worldwide Organisation for Migration (IOM) said earlier this month.
Spectators also booed during the Greek national anthem.
“We shouldn’t portray ourselves like this. If this would have been done to us, we would be really upset”.
“I am deeply concerned about the recent terrorist attacks carried out in France and the potential for this situation to arise in the US, especially given the testimony by Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey”, Dalrymple said. In Turkey, there is rarely a minute of silence that isn’t interrupted by this chant.
A few politicians voicing anti-migrant rhetoric have pointed to the discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one of the Paris suicide attackers, with French prosecutors saying his fingerprints matched those recorded in October in Greece, the start of the European migrant trail for many.
Tsipras called on the European Union to take responsibility for the migrant crisis and offer refugees legal assurances to dissuade them from using illegal routes into Europe.
Lots of issues are on the table as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heads to Turkey, but the refugee crisis is expected to dominate the agenda which both countries hope to resolve mutually.
The minute’s silence was also observed before Asian Football Confederation World Cup qualifying matches, and there was additional controversy when Syrian coach Fajr Ibrahim questioned why similar commemorations were not being held for those killed in ongoing violence in Syria.
In a commentary Wednesday in Austria’s Der Standard newspaper, King Abdullah II describes the fight against terror as “a global war we should fight together as one”. Without of minute of silence.
And what they are chanting is this “Şehitler ölmez, vatan bölünmez”. Any victims of terrorism are accepted as martyrs in Turkish culture. “There is no disrespect to them, there has not been, there will not be”.
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Social media was quick to condemn the fans. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
