Professor criticizes farmers’ airport blockades after oncology appointments cancelled

Twenty oncology appointments were canceled at Iraklio University General Hospital after protesting farmers occupied Iraklio Airport, University of Crete Medical School pulmonology professor Nikos Tzanakis said.

Tzanakis said the airport blockade prevented delivery of the radiopharmaceuticals required to run the hospital’s PET scan laboratory, making the examinations impossible and forcing the cancellations.

In a Facebook post he criticized the use of protests to disrupt public services, asking how agricultural labor could be turned into an instrument of violence and condemning attacks on public and private property, including the cars of airport workers.

He added that responsibility for the situation extends beyond protesting farmers, saying it is time for Greek society as a whole to honestly face its share of responsibility, while distinguishing that burden from that of honest, hard-working farmers and ranchers.