Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed in a phone call to Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, that authorities would allow the jailed father of a train driver killed in the Tempi train crash to be released from a Turkish prison so that he can attend his son’s funeral.
The inmate, who is serving a prison sentence in Turkey, had applied for furlough on compassionate grounds to attend the funeral service.
The issue was raised by Dendias in a phone discussion with Cavusoglu on Monday.
In a tweet after the phone call, Dendias “thanked his counterpart for Turkey’s positive and rapid response.”
The decision was signed by Turkey’s Minister of Justice.
Mitsotakis: Restructuring of railways ‘a personal matter’
This comes as Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told train company representatives on Monday that the restructuring of the country’s railways “is not just a universal demand of Greek society but is now also a personal matter for him.”
Mitsotakis made the comments at the opening of a meeting with representatives of state-owned network owner Hellenic Railways (OSE) and railway infrastructure company ERGOSE, as well as the private, Italian-owned operator Hellenic Train, on restarting the railways.
According to AMNA.gr, it was decided that Greek trains will restart operations gradually as of March 22, beginning with the suburban railroad lines between Piraeus, Athens, and the International Airport, freight trains between Athens and Thessaloniki, and specific local lines in Greece.
Source: Ekathimerini and AMNA.gr.
