Turkey has allegedly expelled a Greek journalist who has been living in Turkey for close to eight years on “public order” grounds, according to his social media announcement.
On Monday, journalist Evangelos Areteos, a specialist in Turkey and regional affairs, announced that he was stopped by security officials at Istanbul’s airport Sabiha Gokcen, before being set for deportation.
“After twenty-three years, during which I lived, for eight years, and then traveled and worked in Turkey, the Turkish authorities decided to deport me and forbid me to return for reasons of ‘public order’,” said Areteos, who is also a non-resident research fellow at the Diplomatic Academy of the University of Nicosia, in Cyprus.
“Along with my professional life, which was inextricably linked with Turkey, all these years I also developed a personal, emotional relationship with the country. My children were born there, I gained very good and true friends, professional and personal ties with many people. For many years, once a month I was in Turkey for ten to fifteen days. Turkey became and still is a place where I truly felt at home.”
Born in Athens in 1971, Areteos studied law in France and Islamic Studies in Belgium. He is the author of a book about the time in the runup to the Gezi demonstrations in 2013 and the botched coup attempt against Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016. He also co-authored the 2019 book “Turkey: The train of the great modernization.”
“The decision of the Turkish authorities is something I cannot understand, it is something that deeply saddens me and now makes me feel like an exile,” the journalist said.
“I will continue to cover Turkey and work with the same convictions even from a distance, in the hope that at some point the Turkish authorities will reverse their decision,” he said.
The full statement by Areteos on his social media account:
“The handshake is astonishingly warm. I am surprised and for a moment I feel a wave of emotion wash over me. It’s my last handshake in Turkey. With one of the police officers who stopped me at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul, before leaving me in the airport room for those scheduled to be deported.
“After twenty-three years, during which I lived, for eight years, and then traveled and worked in Turkey, the Turkish authorities decided to deport me and forbid me to return for reasons of «public order».
Main reason, from what I understood from what they asked me the night they held me at the airport, being polite and understanding to my surprise, was my travels in south-east Turkey, a trip to northern Syria in 2015 and my travels in the rest of Turkey. As well as my contacts with people that the Turkish state considers suspicious and the photos on my mobile phone, which are related to the activities of the Kurds in northern Syria, which I received through a whatsApp group of people who follow the developments in the region.
“Like any reporter who reports, I was the recipient of news and photos.
“I never hid my travels and meetings. After all, I was an accredited journalist, with a card from the relevant Turkish authority. From my travels, not only in southeast Turkey but throughout the country, I made daily reports that were published in the media I worked for all these years. These are what also helped me write two books and a series of analyses, focusing on society and social changes in the country, along with political developments and foreign policy, topics that I covered as a journalist, officially accredited in Turkey.
“The whole spectrum of social change, from conservative citizens and voters to the Kurds and from women’s fashion to music, have always been topics I have considered central to a better understanding of Turkey.
“My main guiding principle, the fundamental principle that I decided should govern my professional life was to always convey a more objective image of Turkey to Greece and Cyprus, as a journalist of Greek and Cypriot Media. Away from demonization, simplifications and prejudices. With a deep belief that I was serving peace and that I was putting my own little stone for the development of good relations between these countries and Turkey. And with deep respect and love for the country and all its people, regardless of their political beliefs and origins.
“Along with my professional life, which was inextricably linked with Turkey, all these years I also developed a personal, emotional relationship with the country. My children were born there, I gained very good and true friends, professional and personal ties with many people. For many years, once a month I was in Turkey for ten to fifteen days. Turkey became and still is a place where I truly felt at home.
“I still haven’t realized what this decision means for me. But I know I have to manage a bereavement. I will miss all my friends in Turkey very much. As a Turkish proverb says, “forty years of memories are hidden in a cup of coffee”. Now I feel it in all its wisdom…
“I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the friends who were interested as well as the Greek authorities for all the support they offered me during those difficult last hours in Turkey.
“The decision of the Turkish authorities is something I cannot understand, it is something that deeply saddens me and now makes me feel like an exile. I will continue to cover Turkey and work with the same convictions even from a distance, in the hope that at some point the Turkish authorities will reverse their decision.”
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August 30th, 2022 
Awake Goy 
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