Greek PM Tsipras takes on Turkish PM on Twitter
ATHENS - The Associated Press
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (R) speaks with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras after a press conference following a meeting at Çankaya Palace in Ankara on November 18, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN
A highly unusual online exchange took place on Twitter between the prime ministers of Greece and Turkey before the former deleted his tweets - but only from the English version of his account.The official English-speaking account of Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras (@Tsipras_eu) posted four tweets addressed to his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu, needling him about Turkey's downing of a Russian jet and Turkey's violations of Greek airspace.
"Our pilots are not mercurial as yours against the Russians" Tsipras tweeted.
Tsipras said the two countries should focus on saving refugees, not on weapons.
"Comments on pilots by @atsipras seem hardly in tune with the spirit of the day. Alexis: let us focus on our positive agenda," @Ahmet_Davutoglu responded.
Hours after the war of waords, an official in the Greek prime minister's office said the tweets had been posted
in error by an aide.
"There was a mistake. Tsipras did indeed say this to Davutoglu (in a private meeting) but it wasn't intended to be made public, so they were erased," the official said, according to Reuters.
