ATHENS

A French citizen tore a copy of the Quran at a mosque in Greece’s Western Thrace, representatives of the region's local Turkish minority said Thursday.

Upon a complaint filed by locals who witnessed the provocative act in the Iskece (Xanthi) province’s Ilica Kaplicalar (Ano Thermai) village, the French citizen was held by local Greek police teams and was eventually taken to the police station, said the elected mufti’s office in Iskece in a statement.

The provocative act was strongly condemned by prominent figures of the Turkish minority and associations as well as the Greek Religious Affairs and Education Ministry.

The ministry’s general secretary, Giorgos Kalantzis said in a statement: “Respect for the places of worship of every religious community is a non-negotiable value for Greece."

The majority of Greece's ethnic Turkish minority, approximately 150,000 people, live in Western Thrace, which borders Bulgaria to the north, Türkiye to the east, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Greek region of Macedonia to the west.​​​​​​​