US backs Greek stance
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said that the Aegean island of Aghios Efstratios does not constitute a demilitarized zone – a sign of support for Greece over a recent border disagreement with Turkey. Burns was referring to complaints made by Turkey earlier this month calling for the island to be classified as a demilitarized zone. The complaints led to NATO canceling a planned military exercise in the region in a move that angered Athens, which argues that Greece’s national sovereignty is at stake. Burns said that it is clear that the area should not be considered a demilitarized area and called on NATO to help solve the issue. Burns lent the US government’s support on the issue after meeting with Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Dora Bakoyannis in Washington on Friday. Bakoyannis was on an official visit to the USA, where she also met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Sources said that Athens is looking to Washington for assistance in helping to ease rising Greek-Turkish tensions. Bakoyannis filled in Rice on Greece’s current relations with its neighbor but sources stressed that Athens was not seeking a «referee» for disputes with Turkey. «The Greek foreign affairs minister spoke of the climate in the last few months in Greek Turkish relations,» a source told Kathimerini. According to press reports last week, Turkey has also decided to push ahead with compensation claims from Greece for the F-16 fighter jet lost in a deadly collision over the Aegean with a Greek jet last year – a clash which resulted in the death of the Greek pilot. The Turkish pilot was pulled out of the sea with minor injuries. Athens is concerned that the current pre-election period in Turkey might push Ankara into fueling military tension between the countries in the Aegean in a bid to gain political points at home. «The current (political) circumstances cannot serve as an excuse for actions that do not foster a climate of trust and that create needless tensions,» Bakoyannis said last week.
