Greece slams Turkey’s temporary entry ban on official

By COSTAS KANTOURIS and DEMETRIS NELLAS
Associated Press

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece has strongly protested a decision by Turkish authorities to deny entry to and detain a Greek regional governor who arrived by boat in Izmir to preside over a regional body’s plenary session. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, governor of Central Macedonia and first vice president of the European Union’s Committee of the Regions, said that Turkish authorities did not provide a reason for denying him entry Saturday and keeping him in a room for over six hours. Following protests by Greece and the EU, Turkey lifted its ban, but Tzitzikostas said he will depart, anyway, and miss the regional two-day meeting.