NATO deletes Turkish Victory Day tweet following Greek demarche
NATO’s Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) has deleted a tweet congratulating Turkey on its Victory Day, following a Greek demarche describing the post as “tasteless” and “unacceptable.”
Also known as Turkish Armed Forces Day, Victory Day commemorates Turkey’s victory over Greece in the Greco-Turkish War in 1922.
The tweet, which had been posted on Tuesday, was no longer visible by Wednesday evening.
“Today is the 100th anniversary of Turkish Independence. We join our Turkish allies across NATO and beyond in celebration of their Victory and Turkish Armed Forces Day,” LANDCOM, which is based in the Turkish city of Izmir, said in the tweet.
The tweet was accompanied by a photo depicting a unit of Turkish soldiers below a large Turkish flag.
Greece’s permanent representative to the security alliance filed a demarche condemning the tweet, the Foreign Ministry earlier said.
The Greek army would lodge a similar complaint with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the ministry added.
The LANDCOM Twitter account regularly tweets messages on the national holidays of member countries, such as on 25 March for Greek Independence Day.
