Around 1,700 Turks flock to Thessaloniki on anniversary of Atatürk's death
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
About 1,700 Turkish tourists visited Thessaloniki on Thursday to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey.
The city’s Turkish Consulate, which incorporates Atatürk’s former house in its complex, had organized an event to mark the occasion, the Vice President of the Greek-Turkish Chamber of Northern Greece, Stefanos Hatzimanolis, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), noting it is part of an effort to attract tourists from the neighbouring country.
Hatzimanolis said the number of visitors were slightly lower this year as the anniversary fell on a weekday, however around 2,000 Turks are expected in Thessaloniki during Christmas and more than 5,000 during the Greek Carnival in the wider region and especially Xanthi. He also urged surrounding municipalities to take similar initiatives to increase the number of tourists from Turkey.
