Statement from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Venizelos on the security situation in Iraq

Hellenic MoFA, Wednesday, 20 August 2014:

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos made the following statement regarding the deteriorating security situation in Iraq:

“The cold-blooded execution of American journalist James Foley, in Iraq, is a heinous act of barbarism that the civilized world cannot comprehend or tolerate. The perpetrators of this heinous assassination must not go unpunished. The only possible response to the terrorism of the irrational regime that the ISIS has established in part of Iraq is the unanimous condemnation of such acts by all peoples and governments and consultations between all the Iraqi political forces in order to shape a unified stance against the threat of extremist terrorists.

In the region it controls, the regime of the self-declared Caliphate has created an intolerable state of terror for all those who are not in line with or do not identify with the regime’s irrational ideological outlook.

The main victims of their terrorism are the communities of Christians and Yezidis – who are being persecuted simply and solely because of their religious convictions – as well as a large portion of the Iraqi population that has been forced to suffer, once again, fear, violence, uncertainly, and the violation of fundamental human rights.

We reiterate our support for the people of Iraq and we hope that the escalation of violence and terrorism will cease, with the restoration of the peaceful coexistence and respect for the human rights of the country’s ethnic, religious and social groups.”

mfa.gr

21/8/14