Dear friends
I am here representing a group of Greek anti-militarists to declare my support to all Turkish anti-militarists and especially to Osman Murat Uelke, who is currently being prosecuted because of his beliefs.
It is our opinion that in a free country, no one should be prosecuted for expressing their ideas, something that at the moment neither Greece nor Turkey recognises. So, in my country, conscientious objectors are being tried by military courts and sent to military prisons as well.
We all know that between these two countries the state propaganda has mainly contributed to the creation of enemy-images and has created a barrier of hate, which does not serve the real interests of the people at all. We believe that this has as a cause not only external influences. It also lies on the ground of the blind policy for which both governments share responsibility. This fact leads them to an endless circle of armament, the expenses of which burdens the people on both sides. No one has asked our opinion on that. Instead, when somebody appears to criticise by words or actions this policy, the state comes to punish him/her.
For us, these people represent the voice of sanity against the irrationalism of propaganda. But when someone calls for logic, he or she should try to prove opinions with arguments and confirm propositions in practice. For this I chose to come to Turkey to prove in practice my non-cooperation with the mechanisms that spread hate and distrust between us.
So, I declare now before you, my refusal to further cooperate under any circumstances with the Greek military services. For that purpose I intend to make a similar statement when I return to Greece and return my military papers to the state.