Aegean civil aviation deal on the rocks
Implementation of a controversial new agreement on civil aviation routes over the Aegean has been postponed following disagreements between Greek and Turkish officials meeting to finalize the deal, Athens said yesterday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis said the dispute was of a purely technical nature. «The negotiations between Greece and Turkey, with the participation of International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transport Association representatives have not achieved a result,» he said. «In the absence, for the time being at least, of such a Letter of Agreement, the civil aviation routes that are extant now will remain in operation.» Opposition parties claim the provisional deal reached two months ago within the framework of ICAO would allow Turkish military jets to fly at will under airliner routes. This is impossible with the current flight network.
